■■■■■m 



■bhbhi 



r I he Light Of 
The Spirit 



Christian D.Larson 




m»»M 




Book U3i7 . 

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IN THE 
LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 



BY 

CHRISTIAN D. LARSON 

Author of 

"The Pathway of Roses," "The Ideal Made Real," 

"The Hidden Secret," "On The Heights," 

"Just Be Glad," "Mastery of Fate," 

"The Great Within," "Your 

Forces and How to Use 

Them," etc. etc. 



NEW YORK 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



.L3I7 



Copyright, 1916, 
By CHRISTIAN D. LARSON 



« , * 



GCT 30 1916 
s>ClA446149 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Leave It To God *••«»»» i 

II. The Highest Prayer 6 

III. The Religion of the Soul . . . . n 

IV. The Spiritual Side of Life . . . .21 
V. The Right Handed Path .... 29 

VI. The Mysteries of the Kingdom ... 37 

VII. The Secret of Spiritual Power . . 56 

VIII. The Use of Spiritual Power . . . 62 

IX. The Light of Inner Consciousness . 67 

X. The Power of Spiritual Transparence 72 

XI. Upon the Path Where All Is Good . 87 

XII. The I Am Is the Way ..... 107 

XIII. I Go Unto the Father 123 

XIV. I Am With You Always 142 

XV. It Is Well With the Soul . . . .159 

XVI. The Spiritual Borderland . . . .171 

XVII. When God So Wills 182 

XVIII. Regions of Infinite Repose . . . .189 



IN THE LIGHT OF THE 
SPIRIT 

CHAPTER I 

LEAVE IT TO GOD 

When you are confronted with problems that 
you cannot solve, or find yourself in the midst 
of conditions that are distressing and adverse, 
do not permit yourself to become disturbed for 
a moment. There is a simple secret that will in- 
variably set you free and change everything for 
the best. And the secret is this — "Leave It To 
God." 

When you do not know what course to pursue, 
leave it to God. When you do not know where 
to turn, or how to dispel the darkness that may 
surround you, then leave it to God. When you 
do not know where the path to the greatest good 
may lie, and have not become conscious of that 
supreme light of the soul through which all things 
may be discerned — rest serenely in the faith that 
you can leave it all to God. In his hands every- 



2 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

thing is safe ; and whatever we place in his hands, 
will be disposed of in the best conceivable man- 
ner. 

It is remarkable how soon darkness takes 
flight, how soon confusion is stilled, how soon 
conditions adjust themselves and how soon ad- 
versities change into blessings, when we can say, 
in perfect faith, and in perfect sincerity of soul 
— "Leave It To God." For thus we place every- 
thing in the keeping of a Wisdom that knows 
what should be done, and in the hands of a Power 
that can do what is best for all concerned. 

It is the best for everybody that we all desire ; 
it is the happiest outcome of everything that we 
pray for as the most perfect ideal of visible ex- 
istence ; and we know full well that such an ideal 
will surely be realized when we leave it to God. 
The Infinite can solve our problems, and so ar- 
range all things in life, that the greatest good will 
come to pass, regardless of time, place or circum- 
stances. And we should not hesitate to seek the 
superior guidance of the Infinite in this regard, 
whether our problems be great or small, mo- 
mentous or insignificant. Whatever the matter 
may be, we should leave it to God. The sun will 
soon shine once more, and all will be well again. 

There are many things we may wish to do, 
but do not know whether to begin now or later. 
There is some one, however, who does know; and 



LEAVE IT TO GOD 3 

if we leave it to Him, something will happen to 
delay the matter, if that is best, or to bring about 
a speedy beginning, if that is best. And after- 
wards, when we see how delightfully all things 
worked out, we will be glad — very glad, that we 
did say, when in doubt — "Leave It To God." 

We frequently come to places where the whole 
world seems to be against us ; when every friend 
seems to be gone; and when adversity seems to 
make life a useless desert of waste and desolation. 
But at such times we should not be disheartened 
or dismayed. There is a way to freedom. 
There is a Light that is stronger than all the 
darkness in the world. There is a Power that 
can change everything in our entire destiny. 
There is a Love that can bring to us the friend- 
ship and the sympathy of all mankind. Then 
why should we ever be discouraged or sad? 
There is a royal path that leads out of, and away, 
from all adversities. And we may find that path 
if we leave it to God. 

When we can say, in perfect faith and sin- 
cerity of soul, that we will leave it to God, we 
place ourselves in that state of being where the 
power of the Infinite can work for us, and 
through us, to the end that the best may surely 
come to pass. The Infinite is always at hand, 
waiting to be of service; but we must be will- 
ing to accept such service ; and we do accept when 



4 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

we can say with depth of sincerity — "Leave It 
To God." 

Then we must know, and fully believe, that 
what we leave to God to do, will be done right; 
and we must realize that when anything is done 
right, every trace of evil, sin, pain or sorrow is 
eliminated completely. God will never bring 
sickness, pain, want or death to any human soul. 
It is not the will of God that any human being 
should suffer, or be deprived of anything that is 
good in the world. The ways of the Infinite do 
not lead into pain and privation, but always into 
greater freedom, greater good, greater power, 
greater joy. 

When we leave anything to God, we may know 
that the wrong alone will be taken away; the 
good will remain and be multiplied again and 
again, without end and without measure. We 
may rest assured, therefore, that nothing that is 
worthy or good or beautiful will be lost when 
we leave things to God. The kingdom of the 
Supreme, with all its riches and glory, is for 
man; but man must be willing to receive; and 
he does express perfect willingness when he can 
say, with the faith of the soul, that he will, hence- 
forth, leave everything to God. 

Whatever there is in life that we wish to 
change, remedy or perfect, the simple secret is 
this — "Leave It To God." And we should make 



LEAVE IT TO GOD 5 

this statement in that deep feeling of the soul 
that knows — that feeling that seems to say to us 
that our wish will be realized, our prayer will 
be answered — the best will come to pass. In 
truth, how could it be otherwise? God would 
not have it otherwise; therefore, when we leave 
all things to Him, we may know that the out- 
come will be all that we could have wished for 
and infinitely more. 



CHAPTER II 

THE HIGHEST PRAYER 

We know that the prayer of the righteous 
availeth much ; but we also know there are many 
prayers that seemingly are not answered — 
prayers that are sincere, and that come from souls 
that we know to be righteous. And accordingly, 
the question arises again and again, how we 
should so pray that we may not pray in vain. 

When we consider the subject of prayer, how- 
ever, and examine the true spiritual significance 
of prayer, we find that we have, in the past, mis- 
taken both the purpose of prayer and the atti- 
tude of the Infinite toward the needs of man. 
We find, in the first place, that God has already 
given his kingdom to man ; and therefore we need 
not ask for anything whatever. There is noth- 
ing we can ask for that we have not already re- 
ceived. Why then should we ask again, or pray 
in any form or manner ? 

We find in the second place, that although God 
has given us everything, still we do not always 
gain personal possession of the gifts of his in- 



THE HIGHEST PRAYER 7 

finite kindness and love. And therefore, this en- 
tire theme becomes, for the time being, exceed- 
ingly mysterious. But the mystery disappears 
completely when we consider this theme through 
the understanding of the highest prayer. And 
the highest prayer may be expressed, in the sim- 
plest and most beautiful manner, through this 
remarkable statement: "My Father, I thank 
thee that thou hearest me always." 

[The highest prayer does not ask, directly, for 
anything that may be desired; but gives con- 
stant, and deep spiritual recognition, to the great 
truth, that the Infinite has, from the very begin- 
ning, given all things to man that may be needed 
for growth and ascension throughout eternity. 
And in addition to this recognition, gives expres- 
sion to ceaseless gratitude, and sincere, unending 
thanksgiving. 

In the language of the highest prayer, we do 
not ask God to give us what we need or desire; 
we affirm, in spirit and in truth, that God is giv- 
ing us all these things now. And we add, to all 
our affirmations, this beautiful, inspiring state- 
ment: "I thank thee that thou hearest me al- 
ways." 

When the body is ailing, we do not ask for 
health. We affirm, "God is now and forever 
giving me perfect health." And, "the perfect 
health of the Infinite fills me through and 



8 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

through, because I am in God, and God is in me." 
We affirm, "God is giving me power"; "God is 
giving me peace"; "God is giving me increase"; 
"God is giving me the gifts of the spirit." In 
brief, whatever we find that we need in life, phys- 
ically, mentally or spiritually, we affirm that God 
is now giving us all these things. And this is 
absolutely true. God is closer than breathing; 
therefore knows what we need every hour, and 
supplies every need at once, whatever that need 
may be. 

We shall find a remarkable difference in the 
working out of all our circumstances, material 
and spiritual, when we change our mode of 
prayer; that is, when we no longer implore the 
Infinite to give us what we need, but affirm, with 
sincere thanksgiving, that God is giving us all 
these things now. 

God is eternally giving to man the all good of 
life ; and God is giving to each human soul every 
day w T hat is needed for that day. It would there- 
fore be wrong to implore God to do what He al- 
ready is doing. Instead, we should recognize 
His goodness by speaking this truth — "God is 
now giving me all that I need." And in addi- 
tion, we should give expression to our most sin- 
cere and heartfelt gratitude. 

When we recognize, in spirit and in truth, 
what God is doing for us, we enter into harmony 



THE HIGHEST PRAYER 9 

with the act of his giving; and accordingly, we 
receive every day everything that is given to us 
for that day. But when we do not recognize this 
great truth, we are not in harmony with any- 
thing that the Supreme may be doing for us ; and 
therefore we do not receive, at the right time 
and place, what has truly been given to us as 
our very own. And possibly we may never re- 
ceive those gifts in this life, but may have to 
depend altogether upon our own efforts for every- 
thing — efforts that are sometimes disappointing, 
and frequently ineffectual. 

The truth is, however, that no soul is destined 
to depend upon personal efforts alone. We all 
must, indeed, use our powers and talents well; 
but we can accomplish but little if we work en- 
tirely alone, that is, apart from higher power and 
divine guidance. Great souls invariably seek 
constant assistance from the Supreme ; and wher- 
ever they go, they always "walk with God." 
Such souls invariably recognize the great law, 
"My Father worketh and I work," and enter into 
the spiritual realization of that law absolutely. 

We must take God with us in all things, if we 
would rise above mere existence, and be true to 
the wonderful life we have been given the priv- 
ilege to live. And we do take God with us in all 
things when we constantly recognize the truth 
that God is with us always, and that He is giving 



io IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

us every Hour what we need to make that hour 
full, perfect and complete. 

When we understand this law, that God is 
constantly giving to man everything that is nec- 
essary to make life all that we wish it to be, and 
place ourselves in perfect harmony with that law, 
we shall find that every need will be supplied in 
its true place and time. The right way will al- 
ways open through which we may gain what we 
desire, and realize the ideals that the great eter- 
nal now holds in store. 

Every day will be full to overflowing with 
blessings of every conceivable state or being. 
Every succeeding day will become richer and 
larger than the days that have gone before, as we 
become more and more conscious of the great 
truth, that God is giving us everything to-day 
that is needed to make this the greatest day we 
ever knew. And in all our efforts we will be 
guided, to the end that we may invariably do 
what is best — knowing that higher power will be 
with us so long as we livfc and work for the larger 
life and the greater good. 



CHAPTER III 

THE RELIGION OF THE SOUL 

Religion is always of the soul; its purpose in- 
variably is to save the soul ; and it is only insofar 
as it is absolutely true to that purpose that any 
form of religion can retain its influence and 
power. Whenever a religion no longer lives and 
works exclusively for its original purpose, it be- 
gins to fail; and there is nothing else that can 
ever cause religion to fail, whatever its form or 
creed may be. If it is true to its purpose, it 
will live and grow, and advance in its methods 
according to the changing needs of a growing 
humanity. 

What it means to save the soul, however, is 
something that resolves itself largely into what 
each individual may have realized in his own 
spiritual attainments. But as most individuals 
develop in groups, we find the human race sep- 
arated into a number of spiritual divisions, all 
having the same purpose in view — saving the 
soul — but differing, more or less, both as to 
method and as to the meaning of this one com- 
mon purpose. 

ii 



12 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

When we examine these spiritual divisions 
more closely we find that they naturally arrange 
themselves into two special divisions, one of these 
much larger than the other. The larger division 
takes the literal view, believing in literal methods 
with which to save a literal soul from literal suf- 
fering, in a literal, localized future. The smaller 
division, however, takes the spiritual view, giv- 
ing the literal phase of all life an insignificant 
position. 

In all ages we have found these two special 
divisions, the two sometimes blending in places 
so that a distinct line of demarcation could not 
be readily drawn. But regardless of this inter- 
blending, the two principal factors — the literal 
and the spiritual — have always been prominent, 
the one always standing apart from the other. 
And the reason for this is readily found when 
we know that we have had, in every age, what 
may be called children in the faith ; that is, men 
and women whose spiritual understanding has 
not been developed sufficiently to enable them to 
go beyond the literal significance of things. And 
we have also had, in every age, the enlightened, 
who could discern the spiritual elements that are 
within all things. 

We all are familiar with the literal conception 
of the soul and its salvation; and we know that 
it contains but a fragment of the whole truth. 



THE RELIGION OF THE SOUL 13 

It is the best, however, that the children in the 
faith can understand; therefore we must be tol- 
erant, and also thankful that they have actually 
entered upon the great spiritual journey — the 
goal of which is complete emancipation, soul mas- 
tery and spiritual illumination. But we are not 
so familiar with the spiritual conception of this 
eternal theme. And as the spiritual conception 
will henceforth become more and more prom- 
inent in all the great religions — the advancement 
of the race towards the spiritual having become 
more pronounced than ever before in history — 
it will be well to give closer attention to its real 
or interior significance. 

According to the spiritual understanding of 
life and its purpose, the saving of the soul means 
the living of a life which will prevent the soul 
from stepping outside of the path at any time ; in 
brief, saving life from all those adverse conse- 
quences that invariably follow when the soul, 
even for a short time, steps out of the true path- 
way of life. Salvation therefore according to 
the spiritual view, is not merely for the future, 
or for the great eternal now, but for every mo- 
ment in eternity. 

The true pathway of life is the eternal path of 
an endless ascension — the soul rising ever and 
ever into higher and higher states of existence. 
It is the path of wisdom and light, the path of 



14 IN THE LIGHT OE THE SPIRIT 

freedom and truth — the straight and narrow 
path — the path leading directly towards the spir- 
itual heights; but it is not a path of suffering. 
There is neither suffering nor bondage upon this 
path. It is only when we step outside this path 
that we suffer. So long as we are on the path, 
then all is well, and we are daily rising into more 
perfect realizations of larger joys, higher states 
of being and a greater measure of all that is 
worthy and good. 

This being true, we have everything to gain, 
both of things temporal and of things eternal, by 
so living that the soul is always on the path. 
And what is more, every soul was created to 
follow the path — must sooner or later begin to 
follow the path absolutely in order to work out 
its own sublime destiny. Knowing this, we real- 
ize that we have nothing to gain through delay. 
Every moment spent outside the path simply 
means more suffering for the near future; while 
every moment spent upon the path means more 
real enjoyment, more wisdom, more power, a 
greater measure of freedom and a larger life for 
the near future. 

It is absolutely true that what time we spend 
outside the path is time wasted, for what expe- 
rience we may gain on the outside is of no value 
to the soul in its advancement towards master- 
ship and illumination. On the contrary, such ex- 



THE RELIGION OE THE SOUIi 15 

perience is a burden that will have to be cast 
aside before we can proceed on our upward jour- 
ney. Here we must remember that the only ex- 
perience that will prove of value is that which 
we gain while living uncompromisingly upon the 
true eternal pathway. It is only sound princi- 
ples that will avail when we meet problems for 
solution. It is only light that can add to the 
measure of light. And it is only on the path that 
light can be found. 

When the soul steps outside of this path, it is 
lost ; and continues lost so long as it remains out- 
side the path. But the moment the soul returns 
to the path, it is saved — saved for the present, 
but not necessarily for the entire future. We 
are living only for the now — the great eternal 
now, and every moment in the future must care 
for itself. The steps we take to-day are suffi- 
cient for this day ; therefore all our prayers must 
be, "Just For To-day." 

Salvation therefore is a spiritual process that 
must ever be present — something we shall need 
every hour. For although we may be saved now 
— on the path now — we may at any time step out 
again if we do not continue to live absolutely ac- 
cording to the principles of divine truth. And 
when we step out of the path, the soul is lost 
again for the time being; it has gone astray, and 
is going wrong, going contrary to the laws of its 



i6 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

being. The result will be pain and suffering, so 
that the lost soul is more or less in torment; and 
that torment never ceases so long as the soul con- 
tinues to be lost, or continues on the outside of 
the path. Here then we find the origin of the 
belief in ceaseless or endless torment for the lost 
soul; for torment is ceaseless on the outside of 
the path. But the other side of that same truth 
is this, that the soul can be saved at any time — 
can at any time in eternity step in on the path 
again and be free. 

The cause of all suffering is found in this tend- 
ency of the soul to step outside of the path — the 
path provided by the infinite laws of eternal as- 
cension. And the cause of this tendency is 
found in the soul's natural desire for growth — 
this desire, in its undeveloped stages, prompting 
the mind to seek all places for experience and 
truth. Thus the misdirection of mental action 
is originated, and the soul turns frequently, both 
to the left and the right, hoping to find the one 
thing we all seek — the life more abundant, know- 
ing instinctively that a greater measure of life 
will bring a greater measure of all other things 
needed in the living of a full life. 

The life more abundant, however, can be real- 
ized only as our living on the path becomes more 
and more perfect. Therefore, the functions of 
a true religion are to help man live continually 



THE RELIGION OF THE SOUIi VJ t 

on the path, and to live the life on the path more 
and more perfectly. Every effort made by real 
religion must have this one object in view — to 
help every soul to live on the path continually. 
It is only in this way that a religion can be true 
to its purpose — to save the soul — and to be what 
it was founded to be — a religion of the soul. 

This gives us a new view of religion — a much 
larger view ; and it is a view that makes religion 
indispensable. It makes religion the greatest 
power in the life of man, both in the temporal 
and the spiritual; for if religion applied its full 
power, then every soul would be saved now, 
would be on the path now, and therefore would 
neither produce suffering for itself nor for 
others. Every soul would be living for the good, 
would be building for the good, and would con- 
stantly add to the peace, the joy and the welfare 
of all. And this is the very condition of life we 
have all hoped to see established upon earth; but 
we have not given sufficient attention to the prin- 
cipal thing. 

The principal thing is to keep the soul on the 
path continually — to keep every soul on the path 
continually. And this is the work of religion— 
the true religion — the religion of the soul. We 
realize therefore what a tremendous power the 
religions of the world would become if they would 
rise out of the literal into the spiritual; if they 



18 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

all would work ceaselessly to save every soul now 
— not from future torment, but from wrong liv- 
ing in the present ; if they would give less atten- 
tion to the helping of man to die, and more at- 
tention to the helping of man to live — to live on 
the path, here and now in this world. 

The coming religion, which will be in every 
sense of the term a religion of the soul, will con- 
cern itself directly with this great work — the 
greatest work of all the world — that of guiding 
the soul of man so perfectly that we all may live 
continually on the path, and thus be saved from 
every pain and ill now — a complete salvation 
both for time and eternity. 

In working for such a * salvation, however, the 
coming religion will not forget the great truth 
that the soul must, in order to continue on the 
path, continue to move forward on the path. 
For we know full well that we almost invariably 
step out of the path the moment we cease to move 
forward. Therefore, the true religion of the 
soul must be prepared to teach the human race 
all the principles of a continuous spiritual attain- 
ment; and must possess a science of living 
through which any individual can learn the sub- 
lime art of living on the path. Thus we realize 
that religion in the future will become a far 
greater factor in human life than it has ever been 
in the past. And instead of dying out, as some 



THE RELIGION OF THE SOUL 19 

believe, religion is being born again — born into 
the consciousness of its real mission — that of 
helping the human race to live On the Path here 
in this world — saving the soul of man from all 
the ills of life in the great eternal now. 

The spiritual conception of the saving of the 
soul is in perfect harmony with the central idea 
of salvation — that of going to heaven; for the 
soul, when on the path, is going directly to 
heaven; in truth, is in the beginning of a heav- 
enly life, and is steadily rising into higher and 
higher heavens eternally. 

,To be on the path is to be one with God ; and 
to be one with God is surely a foretaste of 
heaven; it is the beginnings of the joys that can- 
not be measured, of the peace that passeth un- 
derstanding, of the bliss that angels alone can 
know. Then we must remember that to be on 
the path is to be free from every ill in the world ; 
and that in itself is heaven enough for many and 
many a day. 

To live on the path, however, is not merely a 
secret to freedom from the ills of temporal life 
as important as that may be. It is far more 
than this, for it is a path — the only path that 
leads to the spiritual heights, to all the glories 
and splendors of cosmic existence, to all the sub- 
lime attainments of the master state — to that 
higher world of wisdom and power wherein the 



20 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

soul of man shall be able to fulfill the great prom- 
ise, "What I have done, ye shall do, and even 
greater things." 

It is such a goal, high and wonderful as it may 
be, that lies before us all. It is such a future 
that is in store for every human soul. But to 
reach that goal, and realize that future, we must 
follow the path. Is it not important then — more 
important than all else in the world — that we 
live on the path continually, never for a moment 
turning to the right nor to the left. And it is 
indeed time that all religions and all spiritual 
movements consecrate themselves absolutely to 
this great and wonderful work. x 

The world is awakening to the spiritual vision. 
The race is no longer satisfied with the limita- 
tions of the letter. And the individual wants a 
plan of salvation that will save the soul both for 
time and for eternity — that will give complete 
emancipation now. And the religion of the soul 
is coming to answer the call — a religion that will 
help the soul of man to live, On the Path, here 
in this world, in the great eternal now. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF LIFE 

When we examine our mode of living, we shall 
find that we dwell upon the spiritual side of life 
only upon rare and occasional intervals, while 
most of the time we permit consciousness to come 
out into the personality and sometimes remain 
for days, weeks, or months, upon the personal 
side of existence; we find that during this period 
soul activity becomes passive, and in consequence 
the personality does not have the benefit of that 
greater spiritual power which is necessary in or- 
der that w r e may meet and overcome every prob- 
lem and condition in life. 

This being true, it is most important that we 
learn to live, more and more, upon the spiritual 
side of consciousness so that we may gain pos- 
session of a larger measure of this higher power 
which alone can give emancipation to the person- 
ality and higher wisdom to mind and intellect. 

We realize that we are not here to drift with 
the stream, or to fold our arms passively and say 
that we will let the best come to pass. The 
truth is, that if there be anything we want, we 

21 



22 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

must work for it. If we wish to make life ideal, 
we must make it so ourselves. These things do 
not come to us simply through mere passivity or 
expectation. We know that we are living in an 
imperfect world, a world which is in the process 
of growth; therefore, we necessarily meet unde- 
veloped conditions on every side; and if we re- 
main in a passive condition, or simply drift with 
the stream, many of those undeveloped conditions 
will come into our own world, and not only dis- 
turb the order of our personal existence, but pro- 
duce a great many adverse conditions, both 
within ourselves and in our environment. For 
this reason, we must make ourselves stronger 
than all those conditions; that is, we must rise 
above adversity both in wisdom and in power; 
and this is made possible only through the con- 
tinuous expression of the soul. 

To this end we must permit the spiritual side 
of life to have full and continuous expression, 
both in mind and in body; and we shall find, un- 
der those circumstances, that we will continue 
to have that mastery of self, of life, of feeling, 
of conditions, of tendencies, that will always en- 
able us to be equal to any condition that may 
arise, and that will enable us to state positively 
that "none of these things move me." In brief, 
we will be above them all, and stronger than them 
all, because we have permitted the life and the 



THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF LIFE 23 

power of the spiritual side to come forth in 
greater and greater measure. 

Herewith a question of vast importance will 
arise ; and it refers to the idea of whether or not 
it is desirable to live wholly upon the spiritual 
side. There is a belief current that we may 
weaken the personal side if we live too much in 
the spiritual ; but nothing could be farther from 
the truth. We know that when we are function- 
ing on the spiritual side we are constantly placing 
in action more and more of those higher spiritual 
forces that we become conscious of upon the spir- 
itual side ; and in consequence we give expression 
to more life than we ever realized before. The 
result will be, that both the life and the power 
of the personality will increase remarkably; and 
we shall have more strength, vitality and energy, 
both in mind and in body, than we ever had be- 
fore. 

Realizing this truth, we know that if we wish 
to meet a personality that is thoroughly filled 
with life we must always look for a personality 
with soul; and a personality with soul is a per- 
sonality where the soul has begun to express it- 
self to a much larger degree than usual. But 
when we meet a personality without soul, we find 
the reverse condition. True, the soul is there, 
but it is not expressed; and the greater powers 
are there, but they are not expressed, simply re- 



24 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

maining in passivity. So therefore, the reverse 
of the above belief is the truth; and in conse- 
quence, the more attention we give to the spir- 
itual side, the stronger and more powerful we 
become, not only in soul, but also in mind and 
body. 

There is, however, truth in the belief that cer- 
tain people sometimes appear to become phys- 
ically weak when they begin to give marked at- 
tention to the spiritual side; but we shall find that 
those people are in reality not giving attention 
to the spiritual side. When we analyze their 
minds we will find that they have not come in 
contact with real spiritual power, but have sim- 
ply been dreaming of the mystical; and such 
states of mind are not conducive to physical, men- 
tal, or spiritual power. 

When you become conscious of the soul you 
come in contact with powerful forces; and you 
will have to take control of them all and hold 
them in your possession if you wish to realize 
every gain that is made possible through the con- 
sciousness of such forces. However, if you do 
not take hold of those forces and control them 
perfectly nothing will be gained. This is the 
reason why a great many people, who touch the 
spiritual at frequent intervals, simply have a 
pleasing experience, but do not gain in spiritual 
power. 



THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF LIFE 25 

Considering this subject further, we should re- 
member the principle involved; that is, that the 
building up of life on the personal side and on 
the mental side, as well as on the spiritual side, 
can be carried forward only through the training 
of consciousness to make the spiritual side its 
chief place of functioning; and we may well ask 
what we should do first in order that this goal 
may be realized. To begin, we must study the 
spiritual side just as thoroughly as we have been 
studying the physical side; and accordingly we 
must begin at once to apply the scientific method 
to the spiritual side; in other words, we should 
take up the other side of science. 

We know that we cannot function on the spir- 
itual side to any extent until we become thor- 
oughly familiar with the life and the nature of 
the soul; for the truth is, as long as the inner 
kingdom is a vague, mysterious something, we 
cannot consciously function there. But when we 
begin to analyze and explore the great spiritual 
kingdom, and proceed to study all its elements 
and principles, trying to get hold more and more 
of the fundamental qualities involved, we shall 
find that consciousness will gradually transfer 
itself to the spiritual side; and as this is being 
done, we shall find that increased power and in- 
creased life will come forth into mind and per- 
sonality. 



26 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

When this great change begins, we will find 
ourselves gaining a deeper and deeper under- 
standing of the mysteries of the kingdom. We 
will become familiar with our own spiritual na- 
ture ; and we may continue this process of higher 
and greater understanding of the upper side of 
existence for any length of time. Then we shall 
find that whenever we take another step in that 
direction, thus increasing the power of conscious- 
ness to function spiritually, the soul will express 
itself, both in mind and in body, in added meas- 
ure to correspond. 

Returning to the original idea — when the soul 
is fully and completely expressed in the person- 
ality, the physical or visible side of life will be 
filled with the light and the power of the spirit ; 
and the more perfectly we understand this truth, 
the more fully we realize that physical weakness, 
as well as weakness of character or of mind, will 
naturally disappear as we advance in the expres- 
sion of the soul through the life of the person- 
ality. And we shall also find that the tendency 
of the human mind to drift with the stream, or 
to go under, when in the midst of adversity, is 
due entirely to the fact that consciousness func- 
tions too much on the outside, thereby being lim- 
ited both in wisdom and in power; that is, the 
personality under those circumstances is not 
strong enough to overcome adversity, or to create 
its own conditions and its own life. 



THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF LIFE 27 

The great change begins, however, when we 
step over the border, and proceed to direct con- 
sciousness to function more and more upon the 
spiritual side; for the truth is, that the moment 
consciousness begins to function in that higher 
realm, the coming forth of the spiritual elements 
and powers will begin in no uncertain manner. 
Accordingly, from that time on there will be 
steady increase in the power of mind, character, 
physical existence, and the life force in general. 
The great influx from the soul will proceed, and 
the personality will be filled more and more with 
life and power from above. 

When we so live that this process may continue 
indefinitely, and that consciousness may secure 
positive hold of the higher side of life, the ex- 
pression of the soul will become stronger and will 
be continuous under every circumstance. Then 
we will always live in the strong, masterful 
state; we will always realize the power of the 
spirit living in us; and we will feel, more and 
more, that power surging through us, animating 
and inspiring every atom, fiber and vein. Thus 
we shall be able to transcend all discord, all inhar- 
mony, all disease, all weakness, and in fact, any- 
thing that does not belong to the true order of 
a perfect state of being. 

In order to further this study and train con- 
sciousness in this wonderful work, we shall find 



28 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

the scientific method indispensable; and even 
though we may not comprehend this method per- 
fectly in the beginning, we shall find, if we apply 
the principle involved, that we shall succeed re- 
markably and upon an ever-increasing scale. 
However, even if we do not go any farther than 
simply taking this one step, that is, training con : 
sciousness to live more and more upon the spir- 
itual side, the gain will be nothing less than ex- 
traordinary; and here we should remember that 
consciousness invariably tends to enter into those 
realms that we think of continually, or that we 
think of deeply and with persistent desire. 

Therefore, our purpose henceforth must be to 
give continuous thought to the spiritual side — 
with a strong, persistent desire to become more 
and more conscious of the spiritual life with all 
its elements, qualities and powers. The gain will 
be unusual, and will appear in many forms, be- 
cause the training of consciousness to enter into 
the spiritual realm will not only enable us to un- 
derstand more perfectly the mysteries of the 
kingdom, but the experience will enrich the mind 
to a remarkable degree. In addition, this mode 
of living will add immensely to the joy of life; 
indeed, we shall find upon the spiritual side an 
ever-increasing measure of that which is per- 
fectly beautiful and sublimely ideal. Further- 
more, we shall find in this mode of life the secret 
of the Great Life. 



CHAPTER V 

(THE RIGHT HANDED PATH 

In every generation, and in every clime, men 
and women have appeared who were in posses- 
sion of remarkable power; but they all did not 
seem to gain their power from the same source. 
Among them were many who depended upon the 
Infinite alone, while others made no secret of the 
fact that they were the instruments of invisible 
entities. And in many instances the latter 
seemed to exercise just as great a power, and just 
as high a power, as the former. Much inquiry 
therefore has arisen among all who are in search 
of higher spiritual power, as to what course to 
pursue; whether to go directly to God for this 
power, or to go to mediators in the realms of the 
invisible. 

In all these things there is one infallible guide 
— "by their fruits ye shall know them" — but in 
searching for the fruits or the consequences, we 
must not examine isolated circumstances only; 
we must examine the whole life, from beginning 
to end, of the one who has the power; and also 
examine the results of that power upon all that 
have come directly under its influence. 

29 



30 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

When we pursue such a course, we shall find 
that all those who are in possession of remark- 
able power, naturally array themselves into two 
separate and distinct groups; the one group de- 
pending absolutely upon the Infinite for all spir- 
itual power, and the other group depending prin- 
cipally upon "invisible orders," "invisible help- 
ers," or invisible entities of some kind. And as 
we pursue this course to its ultimate state or con- 
dition, we find that the one group follows un- 
mistakably the right-handed path, leading di- 
rectly into eternal light, while the other group 
follows the left-handed path leading eventually 
into utter darkness. 

To all appearances, both groups may seem to 
be, in the beginning, on the same path — the path 
of true spiritual power; and they all may seem 
to be prompted by the highest and purest mo- 
tives ; but as the two groups advance, farther and 
farther, upon their respective pathways, a marked 
difference begins to arise between them ; and this 
difference becomes greater and greater until it 
finally becomes an impassable gulf. 

At first sight, there may seem to be nothing 
wrong in receiving higher power directly from 
invisible entities; and there may be certain tem- 
porary periods, or conditions, when such a course 
may be permissible ; but no soul can continue very 
long to receive, or "borrow" spiritual power from 



THE RIGHT HANDED PATH 31 

other souls, in the invisible, without drifting di- 
rectly into the left-handed path. And the very 
moment any one finds himself upon the left- 
handed path, the temptation, and the inclination, 
to use higher power for unholy ends, becomes 
stronger and stronger until the conscious self 
gives in almost continually. Besides this, a 
marked weakening of character and principle be- 
gins almost at once the soul drifts into this 
path ; and finally the desire to resist the tempta- 
tion to misuse such power almost entirely disap- 
pears. 

The principal reason why it is wrong to seek 
spiritual power from groups, or "orders," or in- 
visible entities, and why such a course leads di- 
rectly and inevitably into the left-handed path, 
will be clearly understood when we realize what 
it truly means to grow and advance in spiritual 
things. Then we shall be fully convinced of the 
great truth that there is only one way to the light 
and the power of the spirit; and that one way 
may be defined briefly, in the flaming words of 
the prophet, "Return Ye Unto God." 

We advance spiritually by becoming more and 
more conscious of our oneness with the Infinite; 
and all true spiritual growth depends directly 
upon the realization of higher and higher degrees 
of this very consciousness. But when we pro- 
ceed to depend upon invisible entities for higher 



32 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

power, we turn our attention away from the real- 
ization of oneness with God, and seek, instead, 
a more perfect unity between ourselves and those 
invisible groups from which we expect to receive 
greater power. We turn away from the One 
Source of power; and whenever we turn away 
from that Source we step out of the right-handed 
path into the left-handed path. 

We cannot depend upon God unless we depend 
upon him absolutely. Our eye must be single, 
otherwise we cannot see the light. We must fol- 
low the Supreme in all things, or we cannot fol- 
low him truly in anything. We must turn either 
to the right or to the left. There is no inter- 
mediary path. If we turn to the left we turn 
away from God. But we cannot turn to the 
right unless we are prepared to depend upon God, 
absolutely, for all spiritual wisdom, for all spir- 
itual power, and for all the gifts that pertain to 
the spiritual life. 

The way is simple, and the inner truth is so 
clear that all can understand. Know that you 
are one with God, and you are on the way. Real- 
ize that God is "closer than breathing, nearer 
than hands and feet," and the dawn of spiritual 
consciousness will have begun in your own life. 
And as you grow in that consciousness you will 
find yourself gaining possession, in greater and 
greater measure, of higher spiritual power. 



THE RIGHT HANDED PATH 33 

Your spiritual vision will open, more and more, 
to the great eternal light; and you will know, in 
your own soul, that you have found the way, the 
truth, and the life. 

When we pursue this wonderful study we shall 
meet many minds that will reason in this fashion : 
"We know that we are receiving our power from 
invisible entities; but we are convinced that the 
power is pure; and we feel that our acceptance 
of this power will prepare us for a higher life 
and a greater work. In the meantime, we are 
doing a good work; we are helping many; we 
are thoroughly sincere, and our purpose, both in 
our life and in cur work, is the very highest con- 
ceivable." 

In reply, however, to this mode of reasoning, 
plausible as it may seem to be, we must consider 
the truth as it is for all time, and not judge 
merely from a certain amount of good work that 
may be carried on in the present. We cannot 
judge from motives or intentions either, and 
judge wisely, for we all know that any one can 
have good motives; any one can be sincere; but 
in the midst of his sincerity he may be mistaken. 
He may be good and kind to-day, and still he 
may gradually be drifting in the wrong direction. 

The truth is this, that if you wish to be help- 
ful to the world, you need not go to invisible en- 
tities for your power. You can gain greater 



34 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

power and higher power by going directly to God. 
You have no excuse, therefore, in that respect, 
for attaching yourself to invisible groups, or ' 'or- 
ders/' the true existence of which has been, and 
always will be, very doubtful. For here we must 
remember that invisible entities who really know 
God, will never undertake to "lend" spiritual 
power to man. Enlightened entities in higher 
realms will forever seek to inspire man to go di- 
rect to God for all spiritual power, for they well 
know that any other course will inevitably lead 
into ages of distress and darkness. 

When we consider this phase of the subject, 
we realize, in a most positive manner, that we 
cannot "borrow" spiritual power from enlight- 
ened entities in higher realms ; and we would not 
want to receive power from those who are not 
enlightened. We can, however, receive remark- 
able power from invisible entities under circum- 
stances favorable to that end; but such entities 
do not know God; they do not know the way, the 
truth and the life; if they did know, they would 
not lead man away from God, by encouraging 
him to accept power from them, instead of from 
the Supreme. They are therefore "spirits of 
darkness"; and they themselves are already on 
the left-handed path. But even the "power of 
darkness" can perform miracles at times, and do 
"good work" for a season. Therefore, we must 



THE RIGHT HANDED PATH 35 

not be misled by "signs," "wonder works" or 
remarkable "appearances." We must first in- 
quire the source of their power; then we shall 
know, whether or not, they are on the path that 
leads to eternal light. 

Your work may at present be good, and your 
intentions may be good; but if you are not re- 
ceiving your power directly from the Infinite, you 
are gradually and surely drifting away from the 
true Source of light, power and truth. And be- 
fore you may be aware of it, you will find your- 
self on the left-handed path. In truth, you may 
continue for years on this downward path with- 
out knowing where you are drifting, for the way 
to darkness does not always reveal its true na- 
ture to the human soul, or warn any one from 
going farther. Such warning must come from 
the way of light ; but there is a simple secret that 
will always inform us, truthfully, where we are. 
Ask yourself from whence you receive your 
power. If you know that you are receiving your 
power from the Supreme, and if you are trying 
to so live that you may realize, more and more 
perfectly, your oneness with the Infinite — then 
you are on the path of the light. But if you must 
admit to yourself that you are depending princi- 
pally upon other sources, both for power and 
guidance, then heed instantly these inspiring 
words of the prophet — "Return Ye Unto God." 



36 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

The first and greatest principle in all spiritual 
advancement or attainment is this — "Enter more 
and more perfectly into the conscious realization 
of your oneness with God." This is the way; 
this is the truth; this is the life. The whole of 
human existence, therefore, must be so con- 
structed that every thought and act will tend 
directly to increase and deepen this conscious 
realization. Our one greatest purpose must be 
to know absolutely that we are eternally in the 
Spirit of God, and forever one with God. And 
everything in life that may, in any way, interfere 
with the constant advancement of that purpose, 
must be eliminated completely. 

Herein we find the full meaning of the great 
commandment, that we should seek no other gods 
but the one only supreme God. The power we 
may gain from lesser lights in the invisible world, 
is but temporary; and their guidance leads inevi- 
tably away from the light and the truth. They 
alone are on the true spiritual path, who depend 
absolutely upon the Supreme. They alone are 
worthy to lead mankind who follow implicitly the 
guidance of the pure, white light of the One 
Spirit. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 

When we inquire as to the greatest need of 
mankind, our answer must invariably be, to know 
more and more of the truth; and this answer is 
based upon the principle that it is the increased 
understanding of truth that alone can provide 
the human soul with those essentials that are re- 
quired to the living of life and the fulfillment of 
destiny. 

The need of more and more truth has been 
deeply felt in every soul at every time ; and there- 
fore we find the human race constantly in search 
of the truth, although it is quite evident that the 
majority do not realize, most of the time, why 
they do want to know the truth. The soul, how- 
ever, does know; and it is this prompting from 
within that causes the mind to go out in every 
direction, and employ every possible means to the 
end that a greater measure of truth may be real- 
ized. 

The truth that we may know at any particular 
time, provided it is all the truth that we can un- 
derstand at that time, will satisfy our purpose 

37 



38 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

for the living of a full life in that special period ; 
but the very moment we come to a place where 
the needs of life have been enlarged and made 
more extensive, we shall feel at once the need of 
a greater measure of truth. This leads the soul 
into an attitude that we all have experienced — 
an attitude that may be described as the hunger- 
ing and thirsting for something within, or for 
something higher that we do not seem able, at the 
time, to gain possession of; but what we really 
do want at those times is more truth ; and the mo- 
ment we find the greater truth we are in search 
of, the soul is satisfied, and the greater needs of 
life, for the moment, are perfectly fulfilled. 

When we examine the relationship that the 
knowing of truth sustains to the living of life, 
we find that the truth of to-day is for to-day 
only; and that new truth and a greater measure 
of truth becomes absolutely necessary as the soul 
grows or advances into larger and higher states 
of existence. We find therefore that whenever 
a new step is taken, or something higher is un- 
dertaken, the truth that we have known in the 
past will prove insufficient. We find that we 
must have new truth, and that we must gain a 
higher and a larger understanding of life before 
we can proceed with the new step or undertak- 
ing in view. 

However, if we do not succeed at once in gain- 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 39 

ing this larger understanding, we shall experi- 
ence a deep dissatisfaction with almost every- 
thing in life; and we have all had this experience 
at various times; but now we know what it 
means ; and we can avoid such experiences in the 
future if we will make proper provision for the 
greater needs of the future by learning to search 
the truth in all places, and by learning the art of 
entering into a higher understanding of truth 
according to the demands of human advance- 
ment 

In our search for the truth in the past, we have 
confined ourselves almost exclusively to ways and 
methods that have been more or less uncertain; 
that is, we have not developed a definite system 
for the seeking of truth, or for the finding of 
truth, and this is especially true of spiritual truth. 
Accordingly, the race has not advanced spirit- 
ually to any degree of satisfaction, although 
great advancement has been made along other 
lines, because the search of truth in the material 
world has been carried on more thoroughly, ac- 
cording to science and system. 

The soul must have more truth, however ; and 
therefore we find large masses of people coming, 
at frequent times, to places where they do not 
know where to turn because the understanding 
of the past does not serve any longer; and they 
do not know how to find the greater understand- 



40 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

ing that is demanded. In brief, they wish to dis- 
card old conditions and old beliefs, but do not 
know where to go for new ones; therefore they 
find themselves in conditions that are anything 
but favorable to the highest welfare of man. 

We find that this very thing has happened in 
history, again and again; and during such sea- 
sons of change and uncertainty, there have been 
prolonged periods of spiritual darkness. The 
cause of this we can readily understand, because 
when the light of the past proves insufficient, and 
the greater light desired is not at hand, the soul 
must of necessity find itself in a state of dark- 
ness, or at least in a state of confusion ; and men- 
tal confusion almost invariably produces more or 
less spiritual darkness. To avoid this, because 
it should be avoided by all means, we must seek to 
work out a more definite system for the search 
of the greater and the greater truth, as demanded 
by the growth and advancement of the soul. In 
brief, we must provide for ourselves a method of 
growth in the truth that will enable us to con- 
tinue in the spiritual light constantly, without 
meeting at any time those periods that invariably 
follow when the supply for the higher is not at 
hand to provide for greater demand. 

We all realize the situation, and the needs of 
such a situation ; but the question is, how a more 
thorough system can be provided through which 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 41 

we may find, for each day, all the truth that we 
need for that day; but here we must remember 
that it is not a system of belief that we are in 
search of. We do not desire systems of belief, 
but rather a definite system for mental and spir- 
itual growth into a higher and higher under- 
standing of truth. The finding of such a system, 
however, will not prove so difficult as we might 
think, because we have the principle in our very 
midst. 

When we look into the material world, we find 
that in that world a perfect system has been 
evolved for the search of more and more truth; 
and that system is based upon the scientific 
method — a method which is practically infallible, 
and which can be applied in any domain, even the 
spiritual domain. The value of the scientific 
method in the material world becomes very evi- 
dent when we discover the fact that the world 
knew practically nothing about the material uni- 
verse previous to the coming of the scientific 
method ; but since that method has been employed 
so extensively, in connection with all visible and 
tangible objects and forces, the material universe 
has become almost like an open book. We can 
read nearly all its secrets at the present time ; and 
its mysteries are no longer hidden, but have been 
clearly revealed to all intelligent minds. The 
fact is, that the scientific method has revealed the 



'42 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

material universe to us in such a wonderful man- 
ner that we are now able to perform miracles al- 
most every day in connection with tangible forces 
and elements ; and still we realize that we are sim- 
ply in the beginning of real knowledge in connec- 
tion with material things. The discoveries that 
have been made in connection with the tangible, 
and the inventions that have been perfected, are 
nothing less than extraordinary; but greater 
things in connection with the visible universe will 
be evolved and perfected from this time on, be- 
cause we are learning to apply the scientific 
method more perfectly every day, and upon a 
much larger scale. 

The advancement and the changes that have 
been made upon the physical side of life since the 
scientific method appeared, have been so numer- 
ous and so wonderful that we really do not ap- 
preciate them all. The reason is we have become 
so accustomed to miracles in every-day life that 
we do not stop to consider the principles and laws 
through which all these things have been accom- 
plished. Those principles and laws, however, are 
based upon the scientific method; and it is that 
method that deserves the credit for every com- 
fort and every mode of advancement in life that 
we enjoy at the present time. 

Realizing this great fact, the question is, if we 
pan apply the same method to the spiritual uni- 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 43 

verse. We have searched the mysteries of the 
physical kingdoms, and we have found thousands 
of invaluable facts ; we are finding more and more 
every day, and we are working them out in a prac- 
tical manner for the greatest good of man; but 
can we understand the mysteries of the spiritual 
kingdom in the same way? Can we enter the 
vastness of higher realms, and find greater and 
greater truth in those realms, through the same 
method that we have employed in the physical or 
tangible world ? If we can, then the mysteries of 
the kingdom will not be mysterious much longer ; 
we shall soon learn to understand them all, and 
gain possession of wisdom such as we have never 
dreamed. 

We are familiar with the physical side of 
science; and our minds have been so engrossed 
in this physical side that we have never paused 
to ask ourselves the question if there might not 
be another side to science — a side that would 
relate itself directly to the spiritual realms. 
For this reason, we have failed to appreciate the 
power of the scientific method in connection with 
higher and finer things. But now we know that 
there is another side to science, and that this 
other or higher side can be applied as successfully 
in the spiritual world as the physical side of 
science has been applied in the tangible world. 
However, we do not refer to any special kind 



44 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

of science, but refer to the scientific principle 
itself, without any modifications or specifications 
whatever; that is, it is the idea involved in the 
scientific method — the only method known for the 
finding of truth — with which we are concerned; 
and we have now come to the conclusion that it 
is pure science that we must apply, not only to the 
physical, but to the metaphysical, and also to the 
spiritual, if we would know all truth and place 
ourselves in a position where we can constantly 
rise in the understanding of a greater and greater 
measure of truth. 

Appreciating this fact, the problem will be, how 
to apply the scientific method in the search of 
truth in the spiritual world. The Great Master 
Mind declared, "It is for you to know the mys- 
teries of the kingdom ;" but until recently we did 
not give serious attention to that remarkable 
statement ; and the reason may possibly be found 
in the fact that our spiritual needs had not become 
sufficiently strong to arouse our minds in a man- 
ner where we really could not tolerate our limita- 
tions any longer. In recent times, however, most 
of us have come to places where we felt that we 
simply would have to secure new light; and the 
whole world almost is in that positon at the pres- 
ent time. Nearly everybody feels the need of a 
new life and a higher state of existence ; but the 
majority do not know how to proceed in the search 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 45 

of what their souls demand. They have a fear 
of going out upon the seeming void, not realizing 
that this seeming void is nothing less than a 
greater world of substantial and finer reality. 
But there are many who have eliminated that 
fear, and who have begun to get out upon the 
seeming void, finding there the solid rock of 
greater truth, as all will do who take that most 
important step. 

We must remember, that in the search of truth, 
there is no need of having fear of anything, be- 
cause while we are in the search of truth, we can- 
not go astray. If it is the truth that we want, 
and if we are applying the best methods that we 
know, we shall gain at least a measure of greater 
truth ; and we will not go astray ; we will not be 
lost even though we leave behind us all the be- 
liefs of the past. We need not think that we will 
enter the desert of uncertainty simply because we 
leave the lesser in search of the greater ; for the 
fact is, we cannot go very far in any direction, if 
we are in search of truth, without finding some- 
thing that will prove of greater value for the ad- 
vancement and the enrichment of life than any- 
thing we possessed before. Our ruling purpose 
therefore from this time on should be, to go out 
more and more into the vastness of the higher and 
the greater realms of the spiritual world, know- 
ing that the farther we go into that world, the 



46 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

more truth we shall find; and as we grow in the 
truth, life will become larger, richer, more en- 
joyable and more beautiful; and in addition, we 
shall become living examples to the thousands 
who are in search of those higher things that we 
have found. 

When we consider the mysteries of the king- 
dom, we must remember that we are dealing 
purely with the spiritual side of life; and we must 
realize that the spiritual side, or the seeming un- 
real, is the most real of all states of existence. 
There is far greater reality in the life of the spirit 
than there is in the life of the material ; indeed, it 
is only in the spiritual that we find reality in its 
true state of being; and when we realize this, 
then it is that we shall begin to gain, not only a 
higher understanding of all life, but a greater 
degree of mastery, both of the mental world and 
of the material world. 

We are subject to physical conditions only so 
long as Ave continue to believe that the body is 
more real than the soul. The very moment, how- 
ever, that we know absolutely that the soul is 
more real than the body, then the soul will begin 
to gain mastery over the body ; and when the soul 
does gain mastery over the body, all imperfect 
conditions in the physical life must disappear. 
The principle is the same as that of turning on 
the light; when the light comes, then darkness 
must go. 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 47 

We find that physical conditions are always 
similar to the nature of the spiritual expression 
that is taking place at any particular time; that 
is, if the spiritual expression in your life is full 
and complete, every condition in your body will, 
of necessity, be full and complete, or similar to 
the expression of the spirit; and as the spirit is 
always in a state of harmony, peace, health, 
wholeness and the fullness of life, conditions in 
the physical life must be the same when the spir- 
itual expression is full and perfect. The spirit 
is always in a state of divine perfection; there- 
fore, we must of necessity conclude that the body 
would enjoy the same state of divine perfection 
if the expression of the soul were full and com- 
plete during every moment of personal existence. 

The reason why there are imperfect conditions 
on the physical side of mind or body is because the 
spiritual expression of life is only partial in most 
individuals; and in a great many individuals the 
spiritual expression is actually insignificant, so 
that it can hardly be spoken of as a true expres- 
sion; that is, the soul is simply passively alive in 
a great majority of people, and really does not 
iexpress itself or its qualities in any form or man- 
ner. And the cause of this conditon is due to the 
fact that we have looked upon the body as more 
real than the soul. 

Herewith we must remember that so long as 



48 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

we live in the belief that the body is more real 
than the soul, the soul will be looked upon in our 
consciousness as a negative factor. It will sim- 
ply be passive, because our material belief does 
not permit of active expression from the spiritual 
side. And when we look at the life of the great 
majority, we discover at once that the spiritual 
life in them all is purely passive; life in them is 
simply a state of existence ; they do not live in the 
true sense of the term; they do not express real 
life; and the expression of the spiritual or the di- 
vine reality within them has not begun. It is 
true, however, that the very moment material be- 
lief is eliminated, spiritual expression will begin. 
But we do not eliminate material belief until we 
begin to live in the soul ; and we begin to live in 
the soul the very moment we realize that the soul 
is more real than either mind or body. It is in 
this very place that we find the parting of the 
ways in the life of every individual, or the begin- 
ning of a new order of things in the world of any 
individual. 

When the human entity begins to realize that 
the spiritual side is more real than the physical 
side, consciousness will begin to function more 
definitely upon the spiritual side; that is, life will 
be lived, not from the body, but from the soul; 
and when we live in the soul, and from the soul, 
we will give expression to an ever-increasing 
measure of life, wisdom and power. 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 49 

When we consider our past consciousness, we 
remember that our conscious existence was con- 
cerned almost entirely with the outer life of the 
personality; that is, we really lived in the body, 
and looked upon the soul as a vague something 
that no one could understand. We could con- 
sciously feel the existence of the body, but we did 
not have any conscious realization of the existence 
of the soul. We possibly believed that we had a 
soul, but it was merely a belief; and we did not 
possess sufficient conscious realization of the 
spiritual life to prove to ourselves that such a life 
had actual existence. 

In the present age, however, a large percentage 
have come to a wonderful change in conscious- 
ness. These human entities know that the soul 
has existence; they do not simply believe it, but 
are beginning to know it as an absolute truth. 
And if you are a member of this fortunte com- 
pany you realize exactly what has brought about 
this change. You are beginning to feel inwardly 
that you are a soul, and you are beginning to live 
consciously in the soul world. Your chief abode 
is no longer in the body, but is in the spiritual 
state of your life. You have moved, literally 
speaking, from the external to the internal, or 
from the lower to the higher; and you are now 
living, actually and truly, in the higher. The re- 
sult is that you are giving expression to the ele- 



So IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

ments and powers that exist in the higher; and 
as a consequence, you are finding that physical 
conditions are changing to respond more and 
more perfectly to this expression of finer life from 
above. 

And here it is well to remember that we cannot 
give expression to the powers of the soul, and to 
the superior qualities of the soul, unless we live 
in the soul. So long as we live in the body, we 
have to depend exclusively upon material condi- 
tions, material forces and material things; but 
the moment we begin to live in the soul, we be- 
come actually conscious of the greater powers 
and the higher qualities that exist in the soul ; and 
whatever we become conscious of, that we in- 
variably express in the personality. 

The result of these higher conditions we all 
have experienced. We all have proven conclu- 
sively the great truth that we can eliminate ad- 
verse physical conditions by entering a higher 
spiritual realization ; for the moment we enter the 
spirit we become conscious of the power of the 
spirit, and according to the law, grve expression 
to that power through every part of mind and 
body; in brief, we send forth the light from the 
soul, and the darkness of the body must disap- 
pear. 

We have also found that this higher spiritual 
realization will invariably eliminate discord and 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 51 

adversity from the mind, increase the richness of 
life in every manner, and enlarge consciousness, 
both in the visible and in the invisible, so that new 
kingdoms are added again and again to the world 
in which we live. We all have experienced and 
proven this great truth; and all these experiences 
are based upon the principle that we invariably 
give expression to the higher and the finer life of 
the soul the moment we begin to live in the soul. 

The principal idea to be considered in our study 
of this important theme is, that conscious activity 
invariably takes place wherever we feel that we 
live; that is, if we feel that we live in the body, 
our consciousness will act principally in the body, 
and we will deal almost exclusively with the phy- 
ical side of life. But when we begin to feel that 
we live in the soul, consciousness will become ac- 
tive among the spiritual elements and forces, and 
we will place in action more and more of those 
higher forces. Accordingly, we are no longer 
confined to the limitations of the physical, but 
may proceed to enter more and more into the con- 
scious realization of the limitless life of the 
spiritual. 

The truth is, that the moment we transfer the 
principal place of conscious functioning from the 
body to the soul, we find that the higher spiritual 
forces will begin to express themselves, and 
thereby enlarge, enrich and perfect the entire do- 



52 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

main of human existence — physical, mental and 
spiritual; in other words, wherever you are con- 
scious, there you awaken activity. This is the 
simple truth that underlies this entire field of 
study. Therefore, when you are conscious on 
the spiritual side, you awaken spiritual activity; 
and when you awaken spiritual activity, you cause 
the expression of spiritual life and spiritual 
power, and in fact, the expression of everything 
that pertains to the wonders of the spiritual 
world. You have taken conscious possession of 
that higher, richer life, and have begun to bring 
forth that life into every part of your entire be- 
ing. Thus your entire being will be lifted up, 
perfected, made better and higher, and existence 
itself, on all planes, more beautiful and more en- 
joyable. 

When we understand this great truth in all its 
fullness, we will begin to realize its many possi- 
bilities, and we must come invariably to the con- 
clusion that if we should actually live for a num- 
ber of years on the spiritual side of our conscious- 
ness, the spiritual expression of everything per- 
taining to the soul would become so strong that 
it would be impossible for adverse conditions to 
ever find place in the body ; that is, the body would 
be so thoroughly filled with the life and the power 
of the spirit that no adverse condition could ever 
begin for a moment upon the physical side. This 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM S3 

would be only one of the many wonderful things 
that would happen; and another would be the 
continuous enlargement of the mind, because the 
expression of the soul has a tendency to build up, 
to develop, and to further the growth of every 
thing that is natural and true in any part of the 
mental world. All in all, therefore, we would 
realize perpetual health and physical perfection 
on the tangible side, and become giants of char- 
acter, power and talent on the mental side; but 
such a remarkable realization could not take place 
unless we lived for a number of years on the 
spiritual side exclusively, and during every mo- 
ment of existence. 

But there are many who may say that they have 
tried for some years to function entirely upon the 
spiritual side, and yet have realized neither physi- 
cal emancipation nor higher mental attainments 
— a situation that may appear to contradict the 
truth of the statement just made; but we must 
remember that when we face the fact as it is in 
our own life, and ask ourselves if we have always 
functioned on the spiriual side during every mo- 
ment of existence, we must invariably reply, that 
we have functioned on the spiritual side only at 
rare moments. We have not made the spiritual 
side the principal place of conscious activity; and 
that is the reason we have not gained the results 
that we think should have followed our efforts 



54 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

in that direction. If we would realize all the 
fruits of the spirit, we must give every moment 
to the spirit ; and this we can do without interfer- 
ing with the duties and privileges of the physical 
side of life. 

We can live continually on the spiritual side of 
consciousness, and at the same time give full jus- 
tice to everything that may demand our attention 
on the tangible side. Besides, the more per- 
fectly we live in the spiritual, the more life and 
power we will give to the body, due to the fact 
that greater spiritual activity in consciousness 
will arouse a greater abundance of life; and the 
more life we have, the more power, the more 
virility, the more strength and the more harmony 
we shall have, and the better will be the health 
both of mind and body. 

The first step to be taken in the further under- 
standing of truth, and in the search of the secrets 
of the kingdom, is to train consciousness to live 
more and more upon the spiritual side of life; 
and here we must remember that we cannot un- 
derstand the mysteries of the kingdom, no matter 
how much we may study or investigate the sub- 
ject, until we consciously live in the soul. If we 
live in the body, or in the mind, we cannot under- 
stand the spirit, and the mysteries of the kingdom 
will continue to be mysterious in every form and 
manner ; but the moment we begin to realize that 



MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM 55 

we are spiritual beings, and begin to live in the 
soul, so that we actually feel that we are living 
upon the spiritual side, we become conscious of 
spiritual things ; and the moment we become con- 
scious of spiritual things, we gain the power to 
understand spiritual things. The consciousness 
of the spiritual must come first; that is, we must 
actually be in the spiritual world before we can 
study the spiritual world ; and therefore we must 
live in the soul, and consciously function in the 
soul, before we can proceed further in the search 
of truth. Having taken this first step, we will 
not only gain immensely, both physically and men- 
tally, but we will also have entered consciously 
the real light of the spiritual world; and when 
we have entered that light, we shall be able to see 
clearly how to proceed farther, — how to apply 
the other side of science to all the mysteries of 
the kingdom. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE SECRET OF SPIRITUAL POWER 

In every age spiritual giants have appeared — 
wonderful souls, that have almost continually 
been in perfect touch with that vast, inexhausti- 
ble world of supernal light and transcendant 
power that surrounds us all, and that permeates 
the entire cosmos in all its unbounded domains. 
These rare and exceptional souls have been the 
prophets of the race, and have been the saviors of 
mankind ; they have beheld the vision ; they have 
proclaimed the kingdom of higher and greater 
things; they have revealed the light of "another 
and a better world;" they have prepared the way 
for the whole of humanity "to come up higher" 
and enter the joys and the riches of pure, spiritual 
existence. And they have also manifested 
marked possession of spiritual power, the secret 
of which has been a mystery to the greater part 
of the race. 

In years gone by we did not consider it possible 
for man to understand the inner mysteries of the 
kingdom ; but now we know that it is for all man- 
kind to understand these mysteries ; and therefore 

56 



SECRET OF SPIRITUAL POWER 57 

we have begun a ceaseless and unlimited re- 
search, the end in view being nothing less than 
the full realization of the one eternal truth. And 
among the many higher and finer domains, upon 
which we are turning the wonderful eye of the 
soul, the secrets of these spiritual giants is in no 
wise the least. 

When the soul is awakened, there comes a 
strong and increasing desire for higher wisdom 
and higher power. The spirit within begins to 
hunger and thirst for more light; and there is a 
feeling in the deeper depths of consciousness, that 
proclaims unmistakably the nearness of a power 
that is truly akin to the power of the Supreme. 
In truth, the awakened soul can almost touch this 
power, it seems so near; but many a soul con- 
tinues for years on the verge of touching this 
power, but never being able to lay hold upon its 
elements, or realize its conscious possession even 
to a slight degree. And the cause of this strange 
delay has been a deep mystery to many. 

To fathom this mystery we have turned our 
attention to the spiritual giants of every age, 
thinking we might find in them the secret; and 
we have not gone to them in vain. Their lives 
have revealed to us what we sought to know. 
They have prepared the way ; and we may pursue 
the same course if we will learn to understand 
the state and the motive of the interior, spiritual 
life. 



58 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

To begin, we must know and feel that we "live 
and move and have our being" in an infinite sea 
of pure spirit. And we must enter so deeply 
into the consciousness of this omnipresent spir- 
itual world that we can actually feel the "pres- 
ence" of the power in every element of body, mind 
and soul. In brief, the spiritual world must be- 
come so real to us that the material world appears 
to be mere mist in comparison. 

We may know the presence of the spirit, and 
continue in this knowing all through life with- 
out gaining possession of the power; but when 
we begin to "feel" the presence of the spirit, then 
indeed shall we be able to lay hold upon the power, 
and make it our very own. 

Herein we find the secret of the prophets and 
the mighty in spirit. They could feel the pres- 
ence of this higher power in every fibre and vein ; 
they could touch it with their hands in the atmos- 
phere all about them ; they could charge their very 
thoughts with the elements of this power; they 
could direct the tremendous forces of this power 
into every word they might utter or declare ; and 
they could, through the use of divine will, give 
expression to this power through the higher laws 
of nature, and thus perform what, to the world, 
has seemed miraculous. 

When we can feel the presence of spiritual 
power, then we know that we actually have en- 



SECRET OF SPIRITUAL POWER 59 

tered into the real, interior life of that power; 
and the law is, that whenever we "enter into" 
any measure or state of spiritual power, that 
measure of power becomes our own. Another 
great law that we find herein is this, that the 
power of the spirit obeys implicitly the desire of 
the higher human will. And therefore, when- 
ever we feel the presence of the power, that power 
will act for us upon any purpose or goal towards 
which the higher will of the soul may be directed. 
When we actually feel the power of the spirit, 
that power will invariably do whatsoever we may 
will to do, provided the desires and motives of 
the will are inspired by the pure and lofty aspira- 
tions of the soul. 

The first and great secret, therefore, is to feel 
the presence of the spirit, and enter into the very 
life of higher spiritual power. Having taken 
this important step, the steps that follow can in 
no wise be difficult; and the reason for this we 
shall understand when we find how readily these 
higher forces respond to the masterful attitude 
of the soul. The soul should be and, in truth, is 
the ruling principle in the human domain. And 
every awakened soul does lay positive hold, more 
and more, upon this divine prerogative. The 
awakened soul therefore soon comes to a place 
where the absolute right to govern life and des- 
tiny is fully recognized; and at that period the 



60 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

need of higher power becomes very great indeed. 

When the awakened soul arrives at this, the 
parting of the ways, and learns that life can no 
longer drift with the stream, but must be directed, 
with wisdom and power, towards the supreme 
goal of the illumined spiritual heights — when the 
soul comes face to face with this astounding 
truth, the desire for the necessary wisdom and 
the necessary power becomes invincible. And 
there is no rest until this indispensable need is 
supplied. If the supply is not forthcoming, both 
mind and soul will continue in a state of incon- 
solable distress, a state that, in many instances, 
fails to depart during existence in this world. 
The cause, however, is simply the failure to gain 
the higher power required for the new order and 
the new time. 

Herein we find the reason why so many among 
awakened souls have not realized the perfect 
peace of the spirit and the higher joys of divine 
existence. They are living in a period of unrest 
and distress, that frequently becomes unendur- 
able pain; and the cause is always this, that they 
have awakened to the need of higher power, but 
have not gained conscious possession of that 
power. They have entered upon the responsi- 
bilities and privileges of a higher life, but have 
not gained the necessary power to partake of the 
privileges or meet the responsibilities. Their 



SECRET OF SPIRITUAL POWER 61 

spiritual sight is opened, and they can clearly see 
the supreme goal of human destiny ; but they have 
not the power to press on towards those sublime 
and radiant heights. They have awakened to 
the true meaning of life, but have not the wisdom 
or the power to live according to the higher light 
they have received. In consequence, the soul is 
in distress, yearning eternally for that wonderful 
something that seems so near, and still so utterly 
unattainable. 

This wonderful something, however, seems to 
be unattainable for no other reason than this, we 
have nofToVind the simple secret of entering into 
the very life of the spirit. We may know that 
we live and move and have our being in an in- 
finite sea of pure spirit ; but we may not feel the 
"presence" of the power. It is the "presence" 
of the power that we must feel; and when we do 
feel this presence, then indeed will the pain of the 
soul disappear. The great need will be supplied. 
The wisdom and the power that is required to 
live the life will be out of reach no more; and the 
soul can begin in earnest to press on towards the 
spiritual goal of glorified human destiny. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE USE OF SPIRITUAL POWER 

When you accomplish something that is re- 
markable, or unusual, through the use of spiritual 
power, do not permit yourself to think or say that 
you were the author of this work. In truth, do 
not consider yourself, in any form or manner, as 
having done what has seemingly been done by 
you. Keep the eye single upon the Source of the 
power, with which this great work was per- 
formed, and give all honor and glory to the Su- 
preme Author of all that is great and wonderful 
in the world. 

When we consider the great truth, that he 
who exalts himself shall be humbled, that he who 
humbles himself before the Most High shall be 
exalted, we are dealing with one of the greatest 
of laws in the spiritual kingdom. And when we 
understand this law, we shall know the inner 
secret of the seers and the prophets, and of all 
the spiritual giants that have appeared upon any 
planet in the cosmos. 

There is but one Source of true spiritual power ; 

62 



THE USE OF SPIRITUAL POWER 63 

and that Source is the Infinite; but the man who 
exalts himself does not look to the Infinite for 
his power; he looks to his own mind and soul. 
But here we must remember that although the 
human soul can give expression to marvelous 
power, still all of that power must come from the 
Supreme. And no one can receive power from 
the Supreme unless the eye is single upon the 
Supreme throughout the period of conscious ex- 
istence. We receive from the Source only when 
we think constantly of the Source, and open mind 
and soul to the divine influx from On High. 

When we humble ourselves before God, we do 
not depreciate our own worth ; we still know that 
we are created in his image ; and we realize most 
keenly that we are forever one with God ; but we 
recognize the great truth that all power comes 
from above, and that God is the source of every- 
thing that is real and true in life. We do not 
exalt ourselves and say, "I have power of my 
own; I can depend upon myself. " Nor do we 
think of ourselves as poor, insignificant creatures ; 
for how can the noblest creation of the Supreme 
be insignificant? In truth, how can those crea- 
tions be otherwise than wonderful? They are 
indeed wonderful; far more wonderful than we 
have ever dreamed. This we realize perfectly; 
but in the midst of this realization, we know that 
all power comes from God, and that we receive 



64 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

from God only as we depend absolutely upon Him 
for all things we may need or desire. 

When you exalt yourself, you do not depend 
upon God ; you do not look to God ; you turn away 
from Him, and therefore disconnect yourself 
from the only source of power. The result will 
be, that you will steadily decrease, until you are 
poverty-stricken in body, mind and soul. Then 
you shall have to begin once more on the upward 
path, and from the very beginning. But when 
you look to God for all your power, you enter into 
more perfect harmony with His spirit and His 
life; in brief, you draw nearer and nearer to God; 
and in consequence, you become filled more and 
more, with His power until you become a giant 
in mind and soul. The very moment you draw 
nearer to God, you begin to increase; and the 
nearer you come to Him, the more power you re- 
ceive. Thus we understand why they who have 
exalted themselves have been humbled, while 
they who have humbled themselves before the 
Most High, have continued to rise, higher and 
higher, finally becoming joint-heirs with Christ 
in all the power and glory of the kingdom. 

There is one thing herewith that we positively 
must understand; and it is this, that we cannot 
receive power from the Supreme unless we fix the 
whole of heart and mind and soul upon the Su- 
preme. But the moment we think of ourselves 



THE USE OF SPIRITUAL POWER 65 

as "having the power," or as "doing the work," 
we transfer attention from the Supreme to our 
own personality. Then we no longer receive 
power from above, and will soon begin to weaken. 
This we all realize, for how can we be in touch 
with the Source after we have turned away from 
the Source? And how can we receive more and 
more from the Source unless we draw nearer and 
nearer to the Source? 

Absolute oneness with God is necessary if we 
are to gain possession of remarkable spiritual 
power; and this oneness we all can realize if we 
look to God for everything, and depend upon Him 
for everything in the faith that all our prayers 
will be answered without a single exception what- 
ever. But the moment we begin to think of our- 
selves as sufficient, we turn away; we separate 
ourselves, to a degree, from the Infinite ; the open 
door between our own soul and the world of spir- 
itual power begins to close in more and more; 
and if we continue in our self-sufficiency, that 
door will close almost entirely until the light and 
the power of the spirit is, for the time being, shut 
out from our world. 

Your own personality may be the channel for 
the expression of marvelous spiritual power; but 
never say that "this is my work;" and never think 
that you are the author. Your work is to seek 
oneness with God; the power will follow. And 



66 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

it is the power of the Most High, living and work* 
ing in you, that is the author of that wonderful 
work that seemingly comes from your mind and 
soul. This truth we must know. This truth we 
must realize more and more perfectly; and the 
more perfect the realization of this truth becomes, 
the deeper will become our realization of oneness 
with God. More and more will follow. Grad- 
ually and surely we will rise towards the sublime 
spiritual heights. The riches of the kingdom 
will come into our world in greater and greater 
measure; and whenever we are prepared to re- 
ceive our full inheritance, then everything that 
heart and mind and soul may desire, shall become 
our own. All things belong to God ; but we are 
the heirs; and our full inheritance is ready for 
us to enjoy whenever we are fully prepared to re- 
ceive. And when we are willing to depend upon 
God for everything, then we are prepared to re- 
ceive everything that God has to give. 



CHAPTER IX 

,THE LIGHT OF INNER CONSCIOUSNESS 

When we function through outer conscious- 
ness only, we are able to appreciate only those 
things that appeal to the physical senses, or to 
reason, or to the usual states of emotion ; that is, 
we live almost exclusively in the material world, 
and therefore can have no real understanding of 
things spiritual. We may believe in the spiritual, 
and be more or less conscious of the finer things 
in life; and yet, if we look upon all things through 
the light of outer consciousness, we can have no 
true conception of the spiritual world, or the 
spiritual life. We do not realize, in the least, 
what it means to be spiritual, or what it means to 
be in touch with higher, spiritual power ; and, for 
this reason, can neither possess spiritual power, 
nor respond to the healing or emancipating influ- 
ence of that power. 

To possess spiritual power, we must be able to 
function, at least to some degree, through the ele- 
ments of inner consciousness. And the same is 
true if we wish to respond to such power. If we 
wish to be healed by spiritual power, we must live 

67 



68 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

largely in the world of inner consciousness, be- 
cause spiritual power acts only through that 
world. When our minds are living and moving 
in the world of inner consciousness, we can be 
reached by spiritual power ; that is, we are, more 
or less, in that world where spiritual power 
naturally finds expression, and therefore, this 
power may work through us fully and freely as 
we desire. 

There are many who seemingly cannot be 
healed by spiritual power ; and the reason why is 
simply this, that they have not entered inner con- 
sciousness. They are living on the outside of the 
spiritual realm; they do not come in contact in 
any way with the finer, spiritual forces ; and there- 
fore they are never touched by these forces in any 
mode or manner. Everybody can, however, 
learn to enter inner consciousness; and this is in- 
deed something we all should learn to the most 
perfect degree this very day. 

They who do live, to some degree, in the world 
of inner consciousness, can be healed of anything 
through the full and proper administration of 
spiritual power; and they may proceed, at any 
time, to employ that same power in the building 
of a richer, larger life, for body, mind and soul. 
They will respond invariably to the influence of 
higher spiritual power, whatever the need or the 
goal may be. And it is well to know, that the 



LIGHT OF INNER CONSCIOUSNESS 69 

number of human souls who are in touch with 
inner consciousness, is very large, although many 
of them are not aware of the privilege they en- 
jjoy. However, the very moment they give their 
attention to the spiritual side of life, they find that 
they can be helped, and helped wonderfully, by 
spiritual means. They were ready to receive 
higher power ; and they were ready because they 
were living largely in that finer realm through 
which the spiritual forces live and move and have 
their being. 

Great souls live constantly, both in the world 
of outer consciousness and in the world of inner 
consciousness. They are therefore in possession 
of higher spiritual power at all times, and may 
give that power expression in any way desired. 
It is not necessary, however, to live absolutely in 
the world of inner consciousness in order to re- 
spond to spiritual power; but this is necessary be- 
fore we can personally possess and employ spir- 
itual power. 

Even though but a corner of your mind should 
extend, ever so little, into the world of inner con- 
sciousness, that would mean that the door was 
open. Spiritual power could then come into your 
mind and body; and if fully administered, could 
act in you with sufficient force to banish every 
ailment, weakness or wrong that might exist in 
your system. 



70 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

If you should wish, however, to gain posses* 
sion of remarkable spiritual power to be em- 
ployed in the emancipation of others, and for the 
furthering of your own higher development, it 
would be necessary to extend your whole mind 
into the wonderful world of inner consciousness. 
In brief, you would find it necessary to enter so 
fully into that consciousness that you could 
actually feel the tremendous forces of the spirit, 
surging through your entire system, like a mighty, 
invincible current. And you would always be 
conscious of the all-powerful Presence. 

To learn to enter more and more deeply into 
the world of inner consciousness, we must con- 
sider the great law, that the human mind tends 
to develop in that direction where we express our 
deepest desires, our strongest thought and our 
highest faith. The way therefore is simple. 
There are no mysterious methods to employ, or 
rigid rules to follow. The first step is to know 
that inner consciousness is the consciousness of 
that interior life that permeates all life; and the 
consciousness of the spiritual world — a world 
that is to the visible cosmos what the soul is to the 
visible form of man. 

When you enter interior consciousness, you not 
only become conscious of your own soul, but you 
also become conscious of the soul of the universe. 
You gain the power to discern the spiritual side 



LIGHT OF INNER CONSCIOUSNESS 71 

of all things, because your mind has been ex- 
tended into that vast interior realm where the 
spiritual elements and the spiritual forces forever 
have their being. 

The second step is to desire inner consciousness 
with a deeper and a stronger desire than you have 
ever felt before. In truth, this desire should be- 
come a soul passion — continuous and invincible ; 
and the power of that desire will draw the mind 
farther and farther into the world of interior con- 
sciousness until you actually live and move in that 
world. Then to the power of this desire we 
must add the power of our strongest and most 
concentrated thought. "Think on these things;" 
and think with such power and feeling that your 
whole mental life enters into the very spirit of 
those things — into the very soul of the spiritual 
world. Then crown your efforts with faith — 
pure, interior, unbounded faith. Know that your 
mind is entering more deeply and more perfectly 
into the illumined world of interior consciousness. 
Believe this absolutely, and enter into the spirit 
of that belief — into the very life of that faith 
that has limitless faith in faith. 



CHAPTER X 

THE POWER OF SPIRITUAL TRANSPARENCE 

When we examine those conditions that are 
usually spoken of as evil, and trace them back to 
their possible origin, or last analysis, it is impos- 
sible to find any actual evidence in support of the 
belief that evil is real, or that it has independent 
existence. On the. contrary, all evidence is on 
the other side, and we are impelled to accept the 
idea that evil is non-existent. But the question 
is, why does evil seem to be real; and why is it 
here affecting the life of man in such a positive 
manner ? 

Deep thinkers in every age have given the 
larger parts of their lives to these questions ; and 
naturally various conclusions have been formu- 
lated. Among the best known of these conclu- 
sions is the belief that evil is merely a condition 
arising from the misuse of the good; but in the 
full analysis of this belief a difficulty is met with 
that no thinker along that line has as yet over- 
come. And it is this, that if evil has no real ex- 
istence, there can be no natural evil in man ; and 

72 



SPIRITUAL TRANSPARENCE 73 

if there be no natural evil in man there can be no 
desire or tendency to misuse anything. 

But the good is misused as we all know; then 
from whence comes that tendency in man to want 
to misuse the good ? Such a tendency cannot be 
good; and therefore cannot originate in the good. 
However, if all is good, where are we to find that 
from which the tendency to misuse can originate? 
There is a great difficulty here that must be over- 
come or explained if we are to demonstrate the 
belief that evil is merely the misuse of the good. 
But this difficulty has not thus far been explained; 
and yet when we examine evil closely we find that 
it certainly is non-existent. 

There is another belief, not so well known, that 
will prove itself far more satisfactory to the pure 
reasoner, and that will, not only explain the 
various difficulties that are met with in its analy- 
sis, but that also presents a method for eliminat- 
ing evil that is far more perfect than anything 
else ever conceived of by the mind of man. It 
will be interesting therefore to consider this be- 
lief; although it will be necessary to be brief, the 
subject being so large that a volume would be re- 
quired for a full and complete elucidation. 

According to this new belief, evil is but a 
shadow — a shadow that is cast by the life of man 
himself when he is in the light, and only when 
he is in the light, it being impossible to cast a 



74 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

shadow when in the dark. In other words, evil 
exists only as a shadow, it having no reality or 
permanency in itself. Thus evil is known only 
to those who have evolved sufficiently from the 
lower states of consciousness to have come up into 
the light, as it is not possible for those to know 
shadows who have never been in the light. 

If we are to accept this belief — and there is 
nothing to disprove it, while all the evidence ob- 
tainable is in its favor — we must, in one sense, 
rejoice in the fact that there is evil in the world — 
that our lives do cast a shadow, for this at least 
proves that we are in the light. But although 
we may rejoice in the fact that we are in the 
light, still we cannot rejoice in the fact that our 
lives do cast a shadow, and that these shadows 
have occasioned so much misunderstanding, so 
much stumbling and so much pain in the world. 
We must find, therefore, the reason why the life 
of man does cast a shadow. 

When we go in search of this reason why, we 
soon discover that the life of man casts a shadow 
because the light does not pass through his life — 
his life is not transparent. If the light of truth 
and goodness and perfection — in brief, the divine 
light of being, could pass through his life, there 
would be no shadow, and man would not know 
evil in any form. 

This is self-evident. But before we can go 



SPIRITUAL TRANSPARENCE 75 

further in the demonstration of this belief, we 
must find the reason why the life of man is not 
transparent. This is our greatest problem; and 
although the solution can not be made so clear 
that it will be intelligible to everybody, still it is in 
our possession, and can be proven, by any thinker 
of spiritual insight, to be the exact solution. The 
many, however, may not concern themselves so 
much with the reason why the life of man casts 
a shadow as they may with the finding of practi- 
cal methods for the elimination of the shadow. 
And here this particular belief has a decided ad- 
vantage over all others; it does present methods 
for the elimination of the shadow that all can un- 
derstand and apply. 

The principle is that if the life of man is to 
cease to cast a shadow, his spiritual nature must 
become transparent; his life must attain unto 
spiritual transparence; and the way to spiritual 
transparence can be found and followed by any 
earnest, awakened soul. 

When we proceed to examine the problem of 
evil more closely, and from the viewpoint of this 
belief, we come to several self-evident conclu- 
sions. We find that the life of man does cast a 
shadow; that some lives cast a darker and a 
heavier shadow than others ; and that this shadow 
not only causes our minds to believe in darkness 
and evil, its presence being always with us, but it 



76 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

also gives origin to all the ills known in the world. 
This last statement may seem to be too far-reach- 
ing, but it can be proven to be true. 

When we look upon this shadow, our thoughts 
are created in the image of darkness; and any 
thought that is not created in the image of light 
must necessarily be an evil thought — a thought 
that will affect human life adversely. Such 
thoughts darken the mind, confuse the mind, mis- 
direct the mind; and we have, in consequence, a 
number of mental actions that can only end in 
undesirable results. Thus, by thinking of the 
shadow, believing it to be real, the mind is pre- 
vented from doing all its thinking in the light; 
and here we find the final cause of good and evil 
in man. The good in him comes from his think- 
ing in the light; the evil in him comes from his 
thinking in the shadow, and by following the 
shadow during a large portion of his daily ex- 
istence. It is clearly evident therefore that if 
there were no shadow, all the thinking of man 
would be in the light; and as such thinking can 
result only in the good, there would be no further 
evil in his life or in his world. 

Our reasoning thus far is on solid ground, and 
our conclusions, as far as we have gone, cannot 
be gainsaid. But we still have to find the reason 
why the life of man does cast a shadow ; or why 
the light of divine being does not pass through the 



SPIRITUAL TRANSPARENCE 77 

human being. True, a number of the rays of 
that light do pass through the nature of many, 
and there are not a few who are approaching 
spiritual transparence, or who are on the verge 
of such transparence at frequent intervals. The 
lives of these are, at certain periods, almost like 
windows, through which we discern quite dis- 
tinctly the majestic glory of the spiritual side of 
existence. That spiritual transparence can be 
attained, is being attained by a constantly grow- 
ing number, we know therefore full well ; but be- 
fore this attainment can be completed by the few 
and made possible by the many, we must know 
the original cause of the shadow. 

It is evident that the life of man cannot become 
transparent so long as he thinks in the shadow ; 
and he will think more or less in the shadow so 
long as he believes the shadow to be real ; for the 
truth is that we shape our thoughts largely after 
those things we believe to be real ; and also, what 
we believe to be real we make a part of our own 
minds. Thus the shadow has come into the mind 
of man, due to the fact that he has considered the 
shadow, believed in it, thought of it as real be- 
cause it was always with him. 

But we can well understand that no mind can 
think clearly so long as there are shadows in that 
mind. Under such conditions thinking would be 
confused; and it is impossible for the light to 



78 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

pass through a confused mind. Thus the mind, 
by believing in the shadow, and by making the 
shadow a part of itself, becomes instrumental in 
producing that very condition in the life of man 
that casts a shadow, or that prevents the divine 
light from passing through. In other words, the 
windows of such a mind will not be clear; they 
will not transmit the light. And the atmosphere 
of such a mind will be shadowy and dense, so that 
the mental sky will be overcast, more or less, with 
dark and heavy clouds. The light therefore can- 
not pass through, and the life of that man will 
cast a shadow. 

From these facts we learn how man, through 
his recognition of the shadow, making it more or 
less a part of his mind, actually perpetuates in 
himself those very conditions that caused his life 
to cast a shadow in the first place. But why did 
his life cast a shadow in the first place? Simply 
because he did not understand the light when he 
first came up into the light. He came up from 
simple states of consciousness ; in fact, from the 
darkness, and therefore could not think in the 
language of light the very moment he came into 
the light. 

Man was not created a finished being. He was 
created with certain powers and possibilities — all 
of them marvelous and limitless ; but he was left 
free to use his gifts in the making of himself, in 



SPIRITUAL TRANSPARENCE 79 

the unfoldment of what was inherent in his na- 
ture, in the finishing of that remarkable piece of 
work that the Supreme had, through the laws of 
nature, begun in him. We realize therefore that 
man could not, at first, be in the spiritual light. 
He came up gradually into this light, and earned 
every step of the way. But as he came into the 
light he naturally would be ignorant of the na- 
ture of that light, and in consequence would form 
many wrong conclusions, which in turn would 
confuse the mind. And as a confused mind does 
not transmit the light, his life would at the very 
beginning cast a shadow. Besides, his mind 
would be literally filled with imperfections as he 
came up in the scale; in brief, he was, in a sense, 
crude in his mental nature when he began to 
awaken to his birthright, and a crude mental na- 
ture will not transmit the light, but will instead 
cast a shadow. 

We clearly understand therefore how the life 
of man came to cast a shadow as he began to rise 
from darkness into light; and we can naturally 
understand how this shadow came to attract his 
attention ; how he came to think of it as real ; and 
how he came to make it more and more a part of 
his own mentality, thereby confusing the mind 
and perpetuating those very conditions in him- 
self which caused his life to cast a shadow in the 
first place. In this way then evil has continued; 



80 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

but it has continued only as a shadow, and has 
caused pain and sorrow in the world in this way, 
that by attracting the attention of man it has 
prevented him from doing all his thinking in the 
light. And thinking that is not in the light will 
naturally produce conditions that are incompati- 
ble with living in the light. Wherever we live, 
all conditions must be in harmony with the sphere 
in which we live. If we live in the dark, all our 
conditions will be of the darkness and cannot con- 
fuse each other. But if we live in the light we 
cannot permit conditions that come from the 
darkness or there will be confusion and disorder, 
which mean pain, sorrow and tribulation. 

The problem of evil therefore resolves itself 
into this, that since man is now in the light he 
must live wholly for the light, giving no thought 
whatever to darkness or to the shadow that may 
follow his life for a time. He must begin now 
to think wholly in the light ; and by doing this his 
mind will soon become so harmonious and clear 
that the divine light will pass through; in brief, 
he will become spiritually transparent and his life 
will not cast any shadow any more. 

If we are casting a shadow, be it very dark or 
very faint, we are obstructing the light to that 
extent, and thereby interfering with the best wel- 
fare of the world. Besides, we are not fulfilling 
our purpose in life ; for we are not here simply to 



SPIRITUAL TRANSPARENCE 81 

see the light ; we must also transmit light ; there- 
fore, to eliminate the shadow must become one of 
our leading aims in life; and to begin, we must 
consider the cause of the shadow first, and then 
means through which it may be removed. 

We find that the cause of the shadow is found 
in confused thinking — thinking partly in the light 
and partly in the dark; and we find that we think 
in the dark much of the time because we believe 
the shadow to be real. Therefore, at the very 
outset we must refuse absolutely to think of the 
shadow as real. We must know that it is noth- 
ing but a shadow, and that it will disappear the 
very moment we begin to think wholly in the 
light. 

In like manner, we must refuse to think of any 
evil as real in itself, coming as it does from no 
other cause than that of our believing a shadow 
to be a reality. In other words, we must take 
consciousness above and back of our usual mode 
of confused thinking, and begin to think only in 
the terms of light — knowing that the shadow, 
with all its train of shadows, are one and all mere 
shadows, not to be considered or recognized in 
the least. Then we must also know that when 
we begin to think wholly in the light, that entire 
train of shadows will disappear as completely as 
if there never had been such things in the world. 

In training the mind to abandon the old way of 



82 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

thinking — thinking both in the darkness and in 
the light, and to adopt the new way of thinking 
in the light only, we must mentally face that state 
of being which will be realized when the condi- 
tions desired have been attained. In other 
words, if we wish to eliminate the shadows we 
must turn all the actions of the mind upon that 
state in which we shall find ourselves when we no 
longer cast a shadow. And that state is spiritual 
transparence. Our strongest desire therefore 
must be to become spiritually transparent ; for as 
that desire becomes an active part in all the work- 
ings of the mind, every power in the mind will be 
directed upon the ideal of spiritual transparence. 
Accordingly, the entire mind will begin to trans- 
form itself into a finer and finer degree of trans- 
parence; for the law is that the mind invariably 
tends to become like that ideal to which all its 
powers are directed, provided all the actions of 
those powers are inspired with an invincible de- 
sire to attain unto that ideal. 

Thus, by placing spiritual transparence before 
our mental vision as the one supreme state we 
wish to realize, we cause everything within us to 
conform more and more with the law of trans- 
parence. In consequence, these conditions that 
obstruct the light will gradually disappear, not 
being produced any more ; the mental atmosphere 
will be cleared ; and our thinking will become so 



SPIRITUAL TRANSPARENCE 83 

clarified that every part of the mind will transmit 
all the light that may come upon us from higher 
realms. The result will be that more and more 
of the divine light will shine through our lives 
and natures; the shadows therefore will become 
less and less evident until they do not appear 
again. Then we shall be surrounded entirely by 
the light; we shall live in the full light; all our 
thinking will be in the light; and when every 
thought is born of the light, in the light, there 
can be no evil, no sorrow, no wrong any more. 
Then will begin the emancipated life, the glorified 
life — the life we shall live when "our eyes are 
stayed on Thee" — when we live so deeply in the 
spirit and in the truth that we know only that 
which is wholly, completely and eternally of the 
truth. 

When we consider the lives of those who have 
lived largely, who have lived richly, who have 
lived beautifully, we find that they have invaria- 
bly transcended the mere demands of the senses; 
they have taken higher ground; they have gone 
up into the lofty, the sublime, the empyrian, and 
have trained their minds to be in constant touch 
with the finer elements of the soul world. In 
consequence, their minds have continually reached 
out for those vast worlds that lie beyond the realm 
of sense ; and in these worlds they have found a 
universe, the richness, the beauty and the splen- 



84 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

dor of which no tongue or pen can ever describe. 
There indeed have they found something to live 
for; in truth, they have literally reveled in gor- 
geous mansions of celestial luxury. 

They have not, however, lived apart from the 
world of things. On the contrary, they have 
lived more closely to things than before because 
they have learned to see the finer world in all 
things. They have learned to hold that secret 
communion with the soul of nature's visible forms 
i — they have entered into that sweet and strange 
relationship with the beautiful everywhere which 
has always been the privilege of the great soul, 
and which has always added so mtich to the loveli- 
ness, the joy and the real worth of life. 

When we have learned to live constantly in 
touch with that finer world, we have learned a 
great secret — a secret that will serve us wonder- 
fully well whatever conditions may be in that ex- 
ternal world in which we now may live. If we 
are bountifully supplied with everything in the 
visible and the tangible, we shall be able to en- 
joy these things infinitely more if we can also 
see and appreciate the finer elements of worth 
and beauty which those things may contain. In 
truth, no one can enjoy the things that are seen 
unless he can also discern the glory and the splen- 
dor of the unseen. 

Then if all external sources of supply and en- 



SPIRITUAL TRANSPARENCE 85 

joyment should fail us, as they sometimes do tem- 
porarily where all is change and reconstruction, 
we need not be affected thereby in the least if we 
are in touch with the greater good in the finer 
world. This higher source never fails and we 
may draw upon it sufficiently to make life won- 
derfully rich and beautiful regardless of the ab- 
sense or presence of external possessions. We 
may enjoy the finer things to the full wherever 
we may be. And he who enjoys the finer things 
to the full is living a life that is not only great 
and wonderful, but is also sublimely beautiful. 

We must not infer, however, that we need 
neglect the worthy and the beautiful in the ex- 
ternal world in order that we may enjoy the 
greater riches of the finer world. On the con- 
trary, we find that if we would live largely in the 
world of finer things, it is a great advantage to 
give our attention to the perfecting and the beau- 
tifying of external things. Our great aim must 
be, the best, the richest and the most beautiful 
for everybody on all planes. But the finer things 
must hold the first place in all that we think and 
do, because the w T orld of finer things is the rich- 
est world and the most beautiful world of all ; be- 
sides, it is only as we live for the finer things 
that we gain the power to enjoy the good and the 
beautiful that may exist in all other things. And 
to rise perpetually into the purity, the light and 



86 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

the glory of the finer world — this is how we attain 
to spiritual transparence; this is how we so re- 
fine and clarify the mind that the Great Light may 
shine through ; and our own thinking and living 
will cast no shadow any more. 



CHAPTER XI 

UPON THE PATH WHERE ALL IS GOOD 

At the present time the statement that all is 
good is heard frequently, and as it seems to be a 
contradiction of human experience, it has nat- 
urally led to many arguments and much re- 
search into metaphysics, as well as the funda- 
mental cause of things. There is, however, a 
large number that is convinced that in some form 
or manner all is in reality good ; but the majority 
still cling to the idea that much is evil and wrong. 

When we consider the subject from the stand- 
point of what we may call eternal reality, defin- 
ing the term "reality" as consisting of that some- 
thing from which everything proceeds, it is not 
difficult to prove that all is good in its original 
state; in other words, that all that is real is good, 
just as we might say that all substance is good, 
and that all law is good. We know that no law 
has evil intentions, fundamentally, and we real- 
ize that every law has possibilities for good, in 
one or many directions, although the results from 
the use of any law will depend upon whether the 
original purpose of the law was applied, or 

87 



88 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

whether there was a misuse of the original pur- 
pose. We know that the same is true with re- 
gard to principle, and with regard to all the ele- 
ments and forces in nature. They all are good in 
themselves, and we must naturally conclude that 
all things, wherever they exist, must necessarily 
be good in themselves. We realize, therefore, 
that when we deal with reality, or the funda- 
mental side of things, we find that all is good. 

However, when we deal with the whole of life, 
or life as it appears in its various forms of ex- 
pression, the question is if we can say, in this 
broad and general manner, that all is good. To 
answer this question, we shall have to ask our- 
selves what we are living for, or what we are 
here for ; and we need not go very deeply into the 
analysis of that phase of the subject before we 
convince ourselves that we are here to learn some 
most important lesson. We are here to acquire 
certain qualities, certain attainments, and to de- 
velop towards a certain supreme goal; and we 
soon find, in viewing the subject in this manner, 
that we shall, in order to fulfill our purpose in 
this life, find it necessary to follow a certain path; 
that is, the one path that naturally leads to the 
goal we have in view. This path we may speak 
of as the straight and narrow path ; and although 
it is not narrow in the sense that it restricts us to 
an extent where we do not have privileges out- 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 89 

side of a certain system of life or thought, still it 
does restrict us from the enjoyment of those 
things that are not conducive to the great pur- 
pose we all have in view. 

Here we must remember that the enjoyment of 
life is a part of the great purpose of life; and 
therefore the great pathway must necessarily 
provide, not only for enjoyment, but for the high- 
est form of enjoyment, and at every step of the 
way. When we learn this, we find that the prin- 
cipal reason why we have not had more happiness 
in the past is because we have been drilled so long 
to believe that the moment we were becoming 
happy we were on the wrong path. We were of 
the opinion that happiness and pleasure lead to 
destruction; but the new doctrine declares that 
you cannot be good unless you are living in the 
highest form of happiness that you can appre- 
ciate at the time. The contrary of the old doc- 
trine declares that if you are not happy you are 
not good ; that is, if you are not thoroughly enjoy- 
ing life you are not living upon the great pathway 
of life. 

Knowing this, we realize that if we are un- 
happy there is something about our living that is 
contrary to the great law of the ever ascending 
life; or we may be practically off the path, so 
that the remedy would be to seek the great path 
once more; and we shall find, after we have en- 



90 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

tered into the realization of this new idea, that 
it will be much easier to gain that fullness of 
happiness and joy that we all desire so much. 

We may begin our analysis of this subject, 
therefore, by making the statement that we are 
here to learn a great lesson, a lesson that is so 
large and so wonderful that the objective mind 
cannot possibly comprehend it under any circum- 
stances; but as we develop the higher form of 
understanding, we realize more and more the 
fullness of its meaning, and we also realize that 
this lesson can be learned or worked out only as 
we follow the great path. 

To proceed further therefore in our study, we 
must understand the meaning of the great path ; 
and we find that it is not some restricted mode of 
living, but a mode of living that we enter into 
when our whole attention is directed upon the 
great light of Supreme Wisdom. In other words, 
we are on the path when the whole of life has 
been consecrated to the best, to the highest, to 
the truest, to the richest and to the ideal, includ- 
ing the best that can be found everywhere on all 
planes of life. Briefly stated, we are on the path 
when we are inspired with that great and won- 
derful purpose. 

But do we always follow this path? We find 
that we step outside frequently. We turn to the 
right and to the left almost every day, and in fact, 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 91 

almost every hour ; and when we do step outside 
we experience pain, adversity, sickness, want and 
all those conditions that we have spoken of as 
evil. 

Now the question is, if those things really are 
evil. We have thought of them as such, but we 
must analyze further before we find the real truth 
upon this important subject. We all know, 
through experience, that whenever we step out- 
side the path we have pain, and we also know that 
this pain reminds us of the fact that we are off 
the path. Is this pain therefore an evil ? It can- 
not possibly be an evil if it reminds us of our 
duty to our highest light. On the contrary, it is 
a good friend, and the moment we take the ad- 
vice of this good friend and return to the path, 
there will be no more pain. 

From this brief analysis we must conclude that 
pain is good; that is, it acts as a friend under 
every circumstance to encourage us to return to 
the path. We shall find that the same is true of 
all these other conditions that we call evil ; they 
are reminders, some existing on the left side of 
the path, others on the right side of the path ; and 
whenever we step outside, then these reminders 
inform us that we are off the path. Therefore, 
we must think of them as good, for indeed they 
are very good. If it were not for those remind- 
ers we would possibly remain outside of the path 



92 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

for ages, and thus be deprived, for all that time, 
of the wonderful realizations that are in store for 
us as we advance in the scale of eternal ascension. 

The truth is that all of these reminders, or so- 
called evils, are good; and we shall need them just 
so long as we continue to step outside the path. 
They are necessities for the time being; but the 
very moment we decide that we will never step 
outside of the path again, we shall never know 
those reminders any more; we meet them only 
when we step aside, and they are there to tell us 
to return; therefore they are good. 

We all have had periods of experience proving 
the fact that when we continued on the path for 
some length of time we realized that we were not, 
during that time, in touch with adversity, sick- 
ness or pain on any side. We knew nothing 
about those things in our own experience. The 
reason was we were on the path ; and those con- 
ditions do not exist on the path. But when some- 
thing happened that caused us to step outside the 
path once more, we met pain, adversity and other 
reminders, informing us instantly that we had 
stepped aside from the true way of existence. 

The question then will naturally be why we 
step off the path ; and the answer is, that we are 
learning our lesson ; and a mind that is learning is 
not complete in its knowledge. Such a mind may 
form misconceptions now and then, and may se- 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 93 

cure impressions that are not in harmony with 
what we speak of as absolute truth. In other 
words, those impressions or ideas are fragments 
of what is really true; and such ideas may cause 
the mind to turn, occasionally, from the path of 
the absolutely true. We understand this per- 
fectly ; and even though we shall not be able, for a 
long time, to see the whole truth upon any subject, 
still we know that no matter how many imperfect 
impressions we may form in the future about life, 
law or existence — we know that the very moment 
we step outside of the path, whether we do so 
through the suggestions of adverse impressions, 
imperfect impressions, or whatever the cause may 
be, we have a group of good friends on either side 
that will tell us to return to the path at once. 
Those good friends are pain, sorrow, trouble, ad- 
versity and their companions. To act according 
to wisdom, therefore, we would take their ad- 
vice and return, and henceforth so live that we 
shall never step outside the path again. 

We all know, through experience, that these 
so-called evils produce effects upon mind and body 
that are anything but pleasant ; then how can we 
think of these things as good. But here we re- 
member that if those conditions produced a pleas- 
ant effect upon us we would not return to the 
path. We would remain on the outside and 
never accomplish what we are created to accom- 



94 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

plish. So therefore, the fact that these so-called 
evils, or good friends, are painful in their effect 
is also a positive good. It is quite necessary that 
their effect should be si;ch, otherwise we would 
not accept their advice and return to the great 
work we have in store. 

In this connection it is most important to 
consider the fact that if we would always look 
upon those conditions as good friends, instead of 
thinking about them as evils, thereby filling our 
minds with a mass of useless impressions — if we 
changed our attitude in this matter, we would find 
that several things would happen. In the first 
place, we would find that all the energy that we 
had been sending out to annihilate those good 
friends to no purpose whatever, could be used to 
build up soul, mind, character and life on the 
great path. We all have experimented along this 
line, living for weeks and months in an attitude 
where we did not antagonize anything or anybody 
in any form whatever; and we discovered that, 
during such a period, we had more energy and 
life than ever before, and we accomplished far 
more than in the past ; besides, our work was bet- 
ter, and we enjoyed life to a far greater degree ; 
in fact, we had more life to enjoy, because we 
were not wasting life trying to remove evil, or 
trying to remove those conditions that are abso- 
lutely necessary where they are, acting as eternal 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 95 

reminders to the human race in order that no in- 
dividual may remain on the outside of the path 
for any length of time. 

We know the value of the great law, "Resist 
not evil;" and if we would never resist these so- 
called evils, never turn energy out to the right, or 
to the left, where it cannot be used for any pur- 
pose whatever, but on the contrary, use all our 
time, energy and attention in building for a 
greater life and in learning the great lesson, we 
would find the greatest difference in the world; 
we would find that where we took one step for- 
ward under the old mode of living, we would be 
able to take ten or twenty under the new mode. 

We all know the effect of periods of grief and 
worry, how those conditions use up life and en- 
ergy to no purpose; and the cause is simply this, 
that we are turning our energies out against con- 
ditions that cannot be removed, and therefore, all 
such energy is wasted. Instead of trying to re- 
move evil, we should let it alone, and return to the 
great path. Evils do not exist upon the path ; but 
they do exist outside the path; and it is absolutely 
necessary that they do exist there. No one, how- 
ever, need turn to the left or to the right ; there- 
fore, no one need meet evil if living be always on 
the path. We shall meet them, however, just as 
long as we make it a practice to turn to the left 
or to the right at frequent intervals. 



96 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

Accepting this idea, we will proceed to turn our 
energy where it can be used for some purpose; 
that is, in building for the great life that lies be- 
fore us. And when we realize that every pain or 
adversity may have some good advice, some in- 
formation that we need, we will, if we seek such 
information, gain decidedly; we will learn some- 
thing of importance whenever we meet one of 
these good friends; and instead of antagonizing 
the so-called evil, we would ask what it all means, 
and what good advice this friend has to give us 
at this particular time. 

Whenever we meet any condition that is not 
pleasing, we may know there is something for us 
to learn. We know that we have stepped outside 
the path, and we must investigate, so as to ascer- 
tain the reason why. We should meet these good 
friends, therefore, as monitors on the way, for 
that is what they really are ; and if we look for in- 
formation whenever we meet evil, instead of re- 
sisting and deploring our experience, we shall 
find what we are looking for and learn much. 

Under those circumstances we should be scien- 
tists, and proceed to investigate instead of being 
anxious or permitting grief and worry. We 
should look for the facts in the case, the lesson to 
be learned, for the law to be discovered ; and in 
every instance, these so-called evils will prove to 
be instructors, giving us valued and timely infor- 
mation along many lines. 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 97 

When we learn to look upon these conditions on 
the left or on the right as necessary advisers, 
knowing that we are here to continue on the path, 
training ourselves to see that in the ultimate, or 
in the fundamental, all things are good, the ef- 
fect upon the mind will be wonderful. The mo- 
ment we begin to live in the conviction that all 
things have a good purpose, whether we may see 
it now or not, we will find the mind becoming 
more wholesome, becoming stronger and more 
active, and that life will be elevated and enriched 
in many ways. We then enter into what has been 
called healthy mindedness, and we all appreciate 
the fact that such an attitude holds immense 
power for greater things. We shall also find 
the mind becoming more constructive, because, 
instead of a large percentage of the elements and 
forces of the mind being turned aside, warring 
with outside conditions to no purpose, these en- 
ergies will be used in building for the greater en- 
richment of existence. Thus the mind will be 
enlarged, consciousness expanded, and life be- 
come deeper, higher, more beautiful and more 
perfect in every form and manner. 

We all know the value of filling the mind brim- 
ful of good thoughts ; we know what a difYerence 
it makes; we know how much it adds both to joy 
and power; and there is no better way in which 
we can do this than to live in the conviction that 



98 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

all is good. And we shall not find it difficult to 
live in this conviction when we know that after 
all, the so-called evils of the world are good 
friends existing on the right and on the left of the 
path to remind us when we step aside, so that we 
may return at once. 

Another important gain is this, that if we real- 
ize that all is good, we will want to look for the 
real good and the greater good that must neces- 
sarily exist within all conditions, beyond all con- 
ditions, above all conditions. If we train the 
mind in this manner, complying with the great 
law, "He who seeks shall find," making it a prac- 
tice to look for the greater good in everything and 
in everybody, we will find that consciousness will 
steadily expand, reaching out more and more, 
coming in contact with more desirable things, 
more things of value and worth than we ever 
were conscious of before. 

We understand that when the mind dwells con- 
tinually in an attitude where attention is con- 
centrated upon the imperfect, we are not coming 
in contact with greater worth nor meeting the 
superior in life anywhere. Such a mind may be 
satisfied in a certain sense, for a brief time, but 
can gain nothing from life that will have a real 
or permanent value; and in every instance, the 
temporary satisfaction that was secured from 
contacting with the imperfect will give way to a 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 99 

state of mental and physical disease, due to the 
fact that such a mind will soon find itself outside 
the path. 

It is the mind that touches the worthy, the 
superior, the higher, the finer and the richer on 
all sides that really gains happiness, and that 
really gains possession of the highest and the best 
that life can give. If we seek for the greater 
good in all places and in all modes of life, we will 
not simply find the good, but the greater good 
and the greater worth ; and if there is one thing 
that we all need very much, it is this training of 
the mind to reach out for the greater, the 
worthier, the superior in all thought and action. 

We frequently ask ourselves what might be 
the greatest need upon this planet at the present 
time; and the answer is simple — a larger number 
of superior men and women. We need more 
such men and women in order that they may be- 
come inspirations to the race. The entire world, 
almost, is now convinced of the truth that our 
destiny is upward and onward. The race can 
advance, and must advance to be true to life; but 
the question is, how we are to find those elements 
and methods through which continuous advance- 
ment may be realized. Here we should remem- 
ber the statement, "When I am lifted up." It is 
the same with every individual; it was not sim- 
ply true of Jesus Christ, although true of him to 



ioo IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

a larger degree than any one else. We know, 
through experience and observation, that when- 
ever any individual takes higher ground, that in- 
dividual becomes an inspiration to scores, to hun- 
dreds, to thousands. Therefore, we want more 
superior men and women in the world, men and 
women who have found the real worth of life, 
who have found the upper side, the real side, the 
true side, the superior side, the lofty side — that 
side of life that is teeming, we might say, with 
the rich, the beautiful and the ideal. We want 
more such men and women to become inspira- 
tions to the race ; and to that end we should give 
more attention to this wonderful law of seeing 
the greater good everywhere. 

However, we are not going to find this greater 
good if we give most of our time and attention 
trying to eliminate those conditions that exist 
on the outside of the path. If we think that 
those things are bad and try to remove them, we 
are wasting time. They are perfectly harmless 
where they are; and we need not go out where 
they are. It is not intended that we should go 
out where they are; it is intended that we should 
remain on the path where we shall never find pain, 
trouble, sorrow, sickness or adversity in any form 
or manner. 

Henceforth, therefore, our object should be to 
let those harmless things on the outside alone; 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 101 

and instead of trying to remove them, we should 
give our time and attention to the training of the 
race to remain on the path. That would solve 
the great problems of evil all over the world. 

In analyzing the subject further, we find that, 
although all things are good, fundamentally 
speaking, some things are better; that is, there 
are many things that contain possibilities for 
greater and greater good ; but we cannot find the 
better or the greater anywhere unless we conse- 
crate life absolutely to the idea that all is really 
good — that all things can and do, in themselves, 
serve a great purpose. 

When we look at human society and note the 
so-called ills and troubles of certain modes of life, 
we may ask what we are to do about those things. 
We may also ask if it is necessary that people 
live in those adverse realms of society; in brief, 
if those people need such a life. But the answer 
to all these questions is very simple. The fact is, 
that every individual is in contact with the path, 
and whether he may be in the first step on the 
way, or higher up in the scale, he will be abso- 
lutely free from pain, adversity and ailments of 
all kinds the very moment he steps into the path. 
It is not necessary to be a master mind or an il- 
lumined soul in order to continue on the path. 
It is only necessary that we live on the path where 
we are, whether we are at the early stages of 
growth or upon the sublime heights. 



102 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

The fact that thousands and thousands of peo- 
ple are ignorant of this great truth should con- 
vince us of the importance of dealing scientifically 
with this great subject. We all are more or less 
responsible for every condition that exists in the 
world; and therefore we must all work together 
to the end that every individual may find the path, 
and also that every individual may be trained to 
continue uninterruptedly upon the path ; but this 
will necessitate an absolute revolution of prac- 
tically all the ideas that we have inherited from 
the past, and a large percentage of more recent 
ideas. However, the moment we understand 
that we are here to learn a great lesson, and that 
we can learn that lesson by remaining on the path, 
and also that we suffer pain and adversity only 
when we step off the path, we shall not find it 
difficult to solve the great problem before us. 

But this idea is not a recent revelation. The 
truth is that all the illumined souls of history 
have declared this very same thing. We cannot 
find a single exception. The wise men and 
women of all ages, including all the prophets, all 
the scientists and all the students of the higher 
life, whether they were in the first stages of wis- 
dom or higher in the scale — they all declared that 
we are here to learn a great lesson ; we are here 
to find the kingdom; we are here to rise in the 
scale; we are here to find and continue upon the 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 103 

great path. That is the message of every great 
soul that has ever lived; and the corresponding 
truth of this message, that is, that we suffer pain 
and adversity only when w r e are off the path — 
this has also been declared by every mind in his- 
tory who saw the light. 

We should therefore, once and for all time, ac- 
cept this great message as absolutely true be- 
cause we can prove it to be true ; and we should 
eliminate from mind and thought every doctrine 
in the world that contradicts this message in any 
form or manner. 

If we could conceive of human society waking 
up to the realization of this great message, we 
can readily imagine the result. The great mass 
of humanity would at once return to the path, 
and suffering from pain, sickness or adversity 
would speedily be reduced to a minimum. 

The great purpose of the future must be to 
convey this message to all the world, and to teach 
mankind how to find the path. We know full 
well that there is not an awakened soul upon earth 
who would want to remain on the outside of the 
path. Every awakened soul can see what lies 
on before; and such a soul will not care to step 
out even for a moment. There is nothing to be 
gained by turning to the left or to the right, even 
though such experiences may appear tempting 
at times. It is all loss and no gain ; and the very 



104 IN THE LIGHT 0E THE SPIRIT 

moment we do step out, our good friend on the 
outside — evil — will declare at once, "You are off 
the path, return this very moment. ,, 

From whatever point of view we may consider 
the subject we invariably come to the same con- 
clusion ; that is, that the purpose of life is good, 
as it leads to greater and greater good, to greater 
happiness and to more and more of everything 
that can add to the worth and joy of existence; 
and although if we should for the time being, in 
our study of life, gain imperfect impressions and 
sometimes step outside, or be tempted to investi- 
gate darkness, as learners are liable to do, we 
shall always find these good friends on the out- 
side declaring, "This is no place for you; you 
belong on the great path; you are a Son of God; 
you are destined for glory ; therefore return unto 
God." This is invariably the message of pain 
and of all the so-called evils of the world; and 
we cannot speak of those things as evil when their 
one advice to every human soul is this, "Return 
ye unto God." 

But again, we shall not need the advice of those 
good friends on the outside after we have re- 
ceived this great message that the awakened of 
every age have received; that is, that w T e all be- 
long on the path ; and that we meet sin, pain and 
adversity only when we step outside of the path. 

Knowing this great truth, we shall want to give 



WHERE ALL IS GOOD 105 

our whole time and attention henceforth to a bet- 
ter understanding of how we may so live that we 
shall always continue on the path; but as we pro- 
ceed we must not come to the conclusion that this 
path is so narrow that we are necessarily re- 
stricted from the majority of those things that 
we meet in life upon this planet. The fact is, 
that we can enjoy everything in life as we proceed 
upon the path, provided we are true to the pur- 
pose of life; that is, provided our one purpose is, 
through all life and through all enjoyment, to 
reach out for the higher, the better, the truer, the 
richer, the more wonderful, the ideal, the sub- 
lime. 

We are entitled to all the pleasures of physical, 
mental and spiritual existence; and we can enjoy 
them all and remain upon the path; but the spirit 
of all such enjoyment and all modes of life must 
invariably be upward and onward. And when 
life is inspired through and through with a de- 
sire for the highest and the best on all planes, 
we shall find that every atom in our being will 
work steadily and surely for the true, the per- 
fect, the wholesome, the beautiful and the ideal. 
The result will be that the upward current of life 
will become so strong that we will invariably 
be drawn upward and onward by an irresistible 
force; and thus the inclination to turn to the left 
or to the right will disappear completely. 



io6 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

When the desire of life for the higher becomes 
so strong that the whole of life is inspired by. 
that desire, there will no longer be any desire in 
mind or body to step outside of the path. The 
one desire will be to live on the path; and that 
desire will be supreme. It is possible therefore, 
through the development of that powerful spir- 
itual desire, to place the human system in a po- 
sition where it will be protected from temptations 
on all sides; and then, regardless of what may 
come or transpire, we shall always continue on 
the path — always ascending towards the greater 
life, the greater glory, the greater light, the 
greater joy. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE I AM IS THE WAY 

When we consider the many statements that 
were made by Jesus Christ during his life upon 
earth, we find that those statements separate 
themselves into two distinct divisions; and the 
difference between the two is so marked that we 
come naturally to the conclusion that they were 
made in two different states of consciousness. 
The first division seems to emanate from a con- 
sciousness that is almost human, or at any rate, 
so close to the human that we might say it was 
human nature in its highest form giving expres- 
sion to its thought and feeling. The outer divi- 
sion, however, seems to emanate from a con- 
sciousness that is so lofty that we conclude that 
it is the Supreme that is speaking. 

The reason why the statements made by Jesus 
Christ separate themselves into these two divi- 
sions is easily explained, because he did possess 
two distinct forms of consciousness — concious- 
ness of the human and consciousness of the di- 
vine. 

When we consider the human race we find that 

107 



io8 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

the majority are conscious only of the human, 
and therefore give expression only to thoughts 
that are decidedly human. A few, however, 
among the more advanced in the human family 
are developing the consciousness of the divine; 
and many are learning to understand this con- 
sciousness more and more, so that there are mo- 
ments when we reach such a high and such a fine 
state of realization that we almost feel as if the 
wisdom of the Divine were thinking in us or 
speaking through us. The greater part of the 
time, however, we are conscious only upon the 
human plane, and are chiefly concerned with the 
manifested side of existence. 

With Jesus it was different, because he had de- 
veloped that higher spiritual side of his life, and 
therefore could live consciously, and in fact ab- 
solutely, both in the human and in the divine. 
He could, when he so desired, come down into the 
life of the human personality, although his hu- 
man living was indeed of a very high order. 
Then, at other times, he could ascend to such 
heights of spiritual wisdom and power that his 
words were indeed expressions of the eternal I 
Am; and one of the most remarkable of those 
expressions is this, "I Am the Way, the Truth 
and the Life." 

In considering this statement we are referred 
to a corresponding statement that appears earlier 



THE I AM IS THE WAY 109 

in sacred literature; that is, "Be still and know 
that I Am God," or paraphrased might read, "Be 
still and know that the eternal I Am is God"; 
and indeed the eternal I Am is the Way, the 
Truth and the Life. We know that it is the eter- 
nal I Am that is in reality God, the term "I Am," 
being but another term for the Divine, the Su- 
preme, the Most High; and therefore we can 
readily appreciate the great statement, "I Am the 
Way, the Truth and the Life." 

When we consider this statement through our 
highest spiritual understanding, we realize that 
we must enter through the consciousness of the 
I Am if we would find the way, or enter upon 
that perfect path that leads to the lofty places of 
the soul. The same is true if we would find the 
truth; that is, the absolute truth, the truth that 
makes man free; the truth that is in reality truth. 
We must seek this truth through the conscious- 
ness of the I Am, and it is only in that conscious- 
ness that divine truth in its fullness and perfec- 
tion can be realized. In like manner, if we wish 
to enter into the life eternal, and gain possession 
of the life more abundant, or partake of that 
higher state of being which has neither begin- 
ning nor end, which is immortal, glorified and 
spiritualized — if we wish to enter into that life 
we must seek it through the consciousness of the 
I Am; and when we are in that consciousness we 



no IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

enter into that perfect stillness of the soul where 
we may indeed know God. 

In the past, the majority who believe in the 
mission of Jesus Christ tried to find the way the 
truth and the life in some mysterious manner 
through the personality of Jesus; but when we 
examine everything that was said upon that lofty 
theme, we find that the personal Jesus never made 
any such claim. The personal man Jesus did not 
claim to be the Way. It was when the eternal 
I Am in him was speaking that this lofty state- 
ment was made ; and when the I Am was speak- 
ing through him he spoke as one having author- 
ity, which indeed he did have at the time. It 
was the great spiritual Light finding expression 
through his highly refined and developed person- 
ality; and we know that all expressions coming 
from the Great Spiritual Light are expressions 
emanating directly from the consciousness of the 
Most High. 

We must remember that the I Am, which in- 
deed is the Way, the Truth and the Life, does not 
dwell exclusively in any one personality. The I 
Am may find expression through any personality, 
and indeed does dwell in the soul of every human 
being. The eternal I Am is enthroned in the 
spiritual life of every individual soul ; and when 
we enter into the perfect stillness of the soul — 
the peace that passeth understanding — that peace 



THE I AM IS THE WAY ill 

that does pass understanding because in that 
state there is no understanding large enough or 
wonderful enough to measure the peace we real- 
ize — it is in that state of peace which is above 
reason, which is above ordinary mental activity, 
which is even above what we usually call think- 
ing, where we may know or discern the presence 
of the I Am. 

When we are in that peace we are in absolute 
Light, and we do not really think about anything, 
for the truth is that when we are in the Light we 
know. It is not necessary to think there in the 
usual sense of that term, because we know; and 
here let us remember that there is a marked dis- 
tinction between thinking and knowing, and be- 
tween understanding and realization. The proc- 
ess of thinking is a process through which we 
create thoughts about something that we are try- 
ing to understand; but when we know, then we 
do not have to try to understand or create tem- 
porary thoughts about what we are seeking to 
know. When we know, then the mind is in a 
state of illumination, and dwells serenely in the 
perfect realization of the Great Spiritual Light. 

We understand therefore that when we are in 
the peace that passeth understanding, we are 
above actual mental activities; we are in a state 
where all these things are felt and realized as 
absolute states of being; and it is in that realiza- 



112 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

tion that we become conscious of the presence 
and the power of the Eternal I Am. 

If we should try to define the I Am to objective 
intellect, we might liken the I Am to a great 
White Light enthroned in the soul, and giving 
expression to its wisdom and power through 
those higher states of consciousness into which 
we enter when we are in the glory and light of 
the soul world. We realize therefore that when 
we ascend in our consciousness, higher and 
higher into our own spiritual being, we draw 
nearer and nearer to the Great White Light that 
exists upon the spiritual heights of that realm in 
;which the soul forever dwells serene. 

When we enter into this lofty state, we meet 
a wonderful experience; and it is this, that as 
we become conscious of the life and the presence 
of the Great White Light, we enter in a measure 
into that Light, and we feel that we are so per- 
fectly in that Light that we partake of the con- 
sciousness of the Eternal I Am. In brief, we 
feel as if we have become one with the I Am, and 
can actually make the same great statement, "I 
Am the Way, the Truth and the Life." In a 
measure this is true, because we all are one with 
the I Am in spirit; and when we become con- 
scious of that sublime unity, we partake of the 
same wisdom and the same power, and also be- 
come channels, so to speak, through which the 



THE I AM IS THE WAY 113 

Most High may speak the Word of Eternal 
Truth. 

The statement that "My Father and I are one," 
illustrates this same experience, because every 
human entity, spiritually speaking, is one with 
the Supreme; and when this oneness becomes a 
reality in consciousness, the Infinite does speak 
through us, or we give expression to what is in 
reality the Word of God. 

The eternal I Am is individualized in every 
soul, and therefore we can say that the I Am in 
ourselves, that is, the Great White Light of the 
soul, does constitute the Gates Ajar, in our own 
spiritual being, to the Way, the Truth and the 
Life. What is more, we find that it is the con- 
sciousness of the I Am in our own spiritual ex- 
istence that constitutes the only secret path to 
that lofty state wherein we find the Way, the 
Truth and the Life. We cannot find the Way, 
the Truth and the Life through any external 
source — not even through the personality of 
Jesus, or through the personality of any extraor- 
dinary soul that might have appeared, or that 
may appear upon earth. The secret path to the 
Way is found only in our own interior conscious- 
ness of the I Am individualized in us, or our own 
spiritual consciousness of the Great White Light 
enthroned in the secret realms of our own soul. 

If we would find the Way, we must become 



114 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

conscious of the I Am in ourselves; and it mat- 
ters not how we may proceed, what system of 
thought or religion we may follow; those things 
are of secondary importance. The one thing of 
supreme importance is that we have this great 
object in view in every effort, or study of life — 
to become conscious more and more of the I Am 
— the Supreme Spiritual Light reigning su- 
premely within our own spiritual kingdom. 

When our attention is concentrated entirely 
upon that goal, it does not matter what we may 
call ourselves or what systems of thought we may 
follow. If we all have that goal, we all are mov- 
ing in the same direction; and we all are realiz- 
ing an ever-increasing measure of that Great 
Light into which we some day shall enter per- 
fectly, and there meet, face to face, the I Am — 
the Infinite— the Most High. 

It is the truth that so long as we all have that 
lofty goal in view, our minor differences are of 
no importance whatever ; and therefore we should 
lay them all aside, and try to serve each other 
more perfectly, so that we may rise in the scale 
of consciousness to a far greater degree than 
ever before. Thus we shall gain more and more 
of that wisdom and realization that constitutes 
the key to the mansions of Freedom, of Truth 
and of Light. 

Where the human race has erred in the past is 



THE I AM IS THE WAY 115 

in this, that we have sought the Way, the Truth 
and the Life through the existence of some per- 
sonality instead of seeking it through the con- 
sciousness of the I Am in our own spiritual king- 
dom; and the race has also mistaken in trying to 
gain spiritual power through various external 
methods, or by means that are not identified with 
the consciousness of the Great White Light 
within our own spiritual existence; that is, we 
have gone out on by-paths, so to speak, and have 
sought wisdom and power through various ex- 
ternal sources, thinking that we might climb up 
some other way. But there is only one way ; and 
the I Am is the Way — the consciousness of the 
I Am enthroned in our own spiritual kingdom. 

The more spiritual we become the more per- 
fectly we realize that those who try to seek spir- 
itual power or wisdom through any other source 
than through the consciousness of the I Am, are 
trying to climb up some other way; and Jesus 
did make some very strong statements in that 
regard, emphasizing, in no uncertain terms, the 
uselessness of such a course. 

When we study history, especially the spirit- 
ual side of history, we discover that those who 
have tried to seek spiritual power in some other 
way have invariably come to grief ; and they have 
in all ages been looked upon as the "black sheep ,, 
of the fold. It is always true, that whenever we 



n6 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

turn away from the one central path and try to 
gain higher power in some other way, we enter 
into a state of living that becomes more or less 
uncanny. In other words, we become abnormal, 
both mentally and physically, and the world tends 
to shrink from us, feeling instinctively that we 
are on the wrong path, and therefore will have 
nothing to do with our doctrines or our person- 
alities. The world as a whole may be more or 
less in the dark, but humanity does instinctively 
feel whether an individual is on the path to the 
Pure White Light, or is living on one of the by- 
paths, which is indeed a violation of spiritual 
law; and no one can violate spiritual law with- 
out surrounding himself with an atmosphere that 
is repulsive to sensitive human souls. 

On the other hand, it does not matter what our 
religious beliefs may be, if we are sincere in that 
connection and do proceed with the one lofty pur- 
pose in view — that is, to find the Spiritual Light 
within ourselves, seeking that Light neither 
through signs and manifestations, nor through 
the study of the psychical, the occult or the mys- 
tical, but proceed directly and sincerely through 
the highest light of spiritual consciousness that 
we may have — if we proceed in that manner, 
there is something about us that the world in- 
variably regards with respect. And even though 
the world may disagree with us in a measure, 



THE I AM IS THE WAY 117 

still there is that feeling on the part of the world 
that we are sincere, and that we are seeking the 
highest good. In brief, the world discerns in- 
tuitively that we are on the right path, and that 
our consciousness of the Light, as far as we have 
gone, is the consciousness of the Pure White 
Light. 

We shall find a marked difference in all our 
efforts when we make this our supreme purpose ; 
that is, to become more and more conscious of 
the Eternal I Am enthroned in our own spiritual 
kingdom; and when we follow Jesus Christ we 
do so, not in the sense of depending upon his 
personality, or expecting to gain anything 
through his personal existence, but we follow 
him in this sense, that he revealed, in his life 
and in his wonderful teachings, the secret path 
to this sublime consciousness within ourselves 
through which we may find the I Am which in- 
deed is the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

We can readily understand that the conscious- 
ness of the I Am as outlined above, must neces- 
sarily constitute the true way, because when we 
are looking for the Way, we are looking for that 
path that leads into higher states of conscious- 
ness, into great spiritual wisdom, into the il- 
lumined state, and into the conscious possession 
of that sublime power that will enable us to un- 
derstand life — to make life as rich, as high, as 



n8 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

beautiful, as wonderful and as ideal as the true 
spiritual life can and will be made. 

When we become conscious of the I Am we 
become conscious of the Light of Wisdom and 
Truth; we become conscious of that Higher 
Power that exists inherently in every human 
soul ; and we know that whatever we become con- 
scious of, that we will manifest in mind and 
body. When we ascend into higher realizations 
of this same consciousness we find that the mind 
will go higher and higher into the Light, into 
the Wisdom and into the Power; and thus we 
find those very things that do indeed constitute 
the Way — the Way to the Christ consciousness, 
the Christ life and the life of sublime unity with 
the Most High. 

We also realize that this same consciousness 
of the I Am must indeed be the truth, because the 
light of the I Am is the Light of the Eternal, 
and it is the Pure White Light — the Light that 
reveals the absolute Truth, and Truth of the All 
in All. 

In like manner, we understand how this same 
consciousness of the I Am within our own spir- 
itual kingdom must reveal to us the life we seek 
— the life eternal, the glorified life, the spiritual- 
ized life, the life more abundant, the life that is, 
was and ever more shall be. We knew that the 
nearer we draw in consciousness to this deeper, 



THE I AM IS THE WAY 119 

higher state of spiritual being, the more fully we 
realize the existence and the expression of the 
life that is real life; and therefore our growth 
in that consciousness must necessarily be fol- 
lowed by larger expressions of all that abides 
within that life. 

We all have experienced, while in silent mo- 
ments, something in this connection that illus- 
trates clearly the idea that we here have in mind. 
While resting in those silent moments, we have 
felt something wonderful within ourselves, within 
the kingdom of the soul, inspiring the mind to 
take wings so that we have arisen to those sub- 
lime states of realization where we have felt the 
presence of a power and a life that we knew at 
once to be the life and the power of the spirit. 
This life and power thrilled every atom of our 
being, and we felt as if we were surcharged with 
a living essence that could not be otherwise than 
immortal and eternal. 

It is in that state that we have become con- 
scious of the life more abundant ; for in truth, a 
great influx of higher spiritual life has entered 
consciousness, mind and personality, sometimes 
to such a great degree that we were literally over- 
whelmed with glory and power from On High. 
It is in this experience that we fully realize the 
meaning of the great statement, "I came that ye 
might have life, and that ye might have it more 



120 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

abundantly"; for the truth is, that when the I 
Am comes into consciousness ; or in other words, 
when we ascend in consciousness so that we meet 
the presence of the I Am in us, it is then that 
this wonderful influx of spiritual life appears 
in our own being. When we touch the I Am 
within ourselves, we naturally receive the greater 
life of the I Am; and we always touch the I Am 
within when we enter into the spiritual conscious- 
ness of the I Am. 

The same great truth is emphasized by the 
statement "Follow Me" ; because we must follow 
the Christ or the Christ consciousness if we 
would enter into this wonderful realm of spir- 
itual illumination. But it is not the personal 
man, or the personality of Jesus that we are to 
follow. It is the Great Light that the Christ re- 
vealed that we are to follow ; and we follow that 
light when we consecrate thought upon the mar- 
velous spiritual within, and seek the kingdom of 
God in our own interior life and soul. 

The one thing of importance to be considered 
herewith is this, that we may find the Way, the 
Truth and the Life only through the inner con- 
sciousness of the I Am — that sublime expression 
of the Most High that is enthroned in every soul. 
The I Am is the Great Eternal Light centralized 
in the soul and enthroned in the spiritual kingdom 
of every individual soul. We must look to that 



THE I AM IS THE WAY 121 

light, consecrate attention upon that light, and 
never try to find the secret path in some other 
way. 

We must enter through the door of the I Am ; 
and we do enter through the door of the I Am 
when we become conscious more and more of the 
life, the power and the spirit of the eternal I Am 
existing within our own spiritual being. Every 
moment that we might spend in trying to secure 
these things in some other way is so much time 
and effort lost. We realize therefore that we all 
might advance wonderfully, both in mind and 
spirit, and rise remarkably in the scale of exist- 
ence, if we would give every attention to this one 
sublime source. Our purpose in the future must 
be to consecrate attention upon the real door of 
the Spirit, the consciousness of the I Am; and 
seek the Way, the Truth and the Life through 
the spirit of the I Am as it Is upon the heights 
of our own spiritual world; and to this end we 
must learn to understand the great statement 
"Be still and know that I Am God," for the 
Eternal I Am is indeed God. 

When objective thought or objective reason is 
stilled, it is then that the soul may ascend into 
that calm serene attitude — in search of the Light 
in its purity, in search of the peace that passeth 
understanding, in search of supernal heights, in 
search of the Great White Light. And when 



122 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

all these things are found, then the soul does find 
the Way, the Truth and the Life — the soul does 
meet in reality the radiant countenance of the 
Christ, the Glorified Presence of the Most High. 



CHAPTER XIII 

I GO UNTO THE FATHER 

When we consider the statement "Greater 
things than these shall ye do," we must not omit 
the second part of the statement, "because I go 
unto the Father," although this second part is 
usually not quoted. However, it is the second 
part of the statement that explains why the 
greater works shall follow; and we shall under- 
stand presently the reason why. 

There are two interpretations that can be given 
to this statement, and both of them are true, al- 
though the one is necessarily only a part of the 
whole truth. 

We know that Jesus had taught his disciples 
and friends the mysteries of the kingdom, and 
therefore they understood these higher laws and 
these higher powers that we, in this age, have re- 
discovered, and are trying so faithfully to 
study and apply. He had performed remark- 
able things, and some of his disciples had also 
performed what would seem miraculous to the 
people at large. However, he declared that they 

should perform still greater things later; and he 

123 



124 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

gave as a reason, "because I go unto the Father." 
At first thought, we discern very clearly the 
reason why they should accomplish more after 
he had gone, because while he was with them 
they naturally depended very largely upon him to 
do what they themselves might do if left upon 
their own individuality; and here it is worthy 
our time to pause a moment to consider a very 
important principle. 

If we w r ant to do the greater works, whatever 
they may be, or if we want to gain higher power 
and enter into higher discernment, we must not 
depend too much upon individuals aside from our- 
selves ; we must not be dependent, but on the con- 
trary must try to give expression to all the life, 
power and talent that we, ourselves, possess. 

We know that there has been a tendency all 
along in the history of the human race, especially 
among those who have tried to understand higher 
things, to select some great soul upon which to 
depend; and we know that a very large portion 
of the world is depending upon the personality 
of Jesus for everything pertaining to the spirit- 
ual life. We find, however, among the millions 
and millions that depend absolutely upon Jesus, 
but very few who have any spiritual power of 
their own. They are, spiritually speaking, neg- 
ative entities, and they have no control over 
physical ailments or conditions, and are unable 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 125 

to master any situation in their environment to 
any satisfactory degree. They are largely en- 
tities drifting with the stream of fate; and with 
regard to spiritual understanding, most of them 
have not even entered the "a b c" class. They 
are depending upon that wonderful personality, 
and depend so absolutely upon that personality 
that their own spiritual powers continue to be 
latent, having in most instances never been awak- 
ened in the least. 

In this connection we realize that if the vast 
Orthodox world, with its perfect organizations, 
would add spiritual power to its many factors, 
we would soon experience one of the greatest 
revivals the world has ever seen; and it would 
be a permanent revival, transforming practically 
the entire race from materiality to spirituality, 
and thereby eliminating from this planet prac- 
tically all the ills and wrongs that may exist in 
the world to-day. But the vast Orthodox world 
is not manifesting any degree of spiritual power, 
and it is practically impossible to find a soul 
among them who is doing the greater works. 
Their spirituality, as it is called, is nothing more 
than a passive goodness, which in most instances, 
is not strong enough to maintain itself in the 
midst of temptation without a constant supply 
of external aid. We have here, therefore, a pow- 
erful illustration, and a far reaching illustration, 



126 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

of the mistake of depending upon any personal- 
ity, or worshiping any personality, no matter how 
wonderful that personality may be. 

The truth in this regard is, that we should not 
depend upon any entity whatever that may have 
appeared in manifestation; but should depend 
exclusively upon the Infinite; and in reality we 
find that we do not depend absolutely upon the 
Infinite, because the act of depending upon the 
Infinite becomes rather an act of cooperation 
with divine power ; that is, we are simply uniting 
with God, instead of depending absolutely upon 
his wisdom and power. 

When we enter into the spiritual understand- 
ing of this divine unity, we realize the full mean- 
ing of the statement, "My Father worketh and I 
work" ; and this is the attitude we should assume. 
The human soul should enter into harmony with 
higher spiritual power — that power that is gained 
through this higher consciousness of oneness 
with God. We should not assume the attitude 
that our whole personality is acted upon by 
Higher Power, for the fact is we must do our 
part just as positively and continually; that is, 
we must work, doing our utmost in the fulfill- 
ment of the purpose we have in view ; but if we 
are conscious of oneness with the Infinite while 
we work, we are constantly receiving aid and 
assistance from Higher Power; and we live ac- 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 127 

cording to the statement, "My Father worketh 
and I work." 

We know that the great prophets of all ages, 
as well as the seers and the wonderful souls that 
have appeared upon earth, all walked with God. 
They were constantly living in such close spir- 
itual contact with the Supreme that they could 
truthfully consider the Supreme their companion 
under all circumstances. They did not leave 
everything to be done by the Supreme ; they did 
not fold their arms and say, "I am an instrument 
in the hands of Higher Power ; do with me what 
you like." On the contrary, they sought con- 
stantly to give expression to their own individ- 
uality, trying to ascend in the scale of spiritual 
life and illumination ; but whatever they were do- 
ing, they always walked with God, and whatever 
they attempted to do, they always sought divine 
aid. 

We find that an awakened soul never assumes 
the attitude of a mere instrument in the hands 
of Higher Power ; an awakened soul is not a mere 
instrument to be played upon by any power ; and 
it is not the will of God that any soul should be 
a mere passive entity, to be used by outside forces, 
regardless of the purpose or consequence. The 
truth is, we are here to work out a wonderful 
destiny, and it is only as we do something our- 
selves, and work for this purpose ourselves, that 
we reach the high goal in view. 



128 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

However, we never go alone. The moment 
we are awakened and assume the true attitude 
towards this theme, we find that we are con- 
stantly walking in conscious oneness with God, 
and that higher power is being given to us con- 
tinually as we may require. 

In this connection we must remember that man 
alone can do very little; and we also know that 
if any individual assumes the attitude of a mere 
instrument, to be acted upon by outside forces, 
he is placing his own talents in the ground ; and 
Jesus clearly emphasized the mistake of such a 
course. 

Under every circumstance we must use the tal- 
ents we possess, and must try to develop those 
talents as far as possible, and all through life; 
but as we continue to use and develop our tal- 
ents, we shall find that our advancement will be 
far greater, and the results far greater, if we 
assume the attitude of unity with the Supreme. 

The proper course to take, therefore, is to en- 
ter into harmony with the Infinite, and to walk 
with God ; and while in that attitude, which should 
be perpetual, we should proceed to work out our 
own destiny, using all our own powers, and work- 
ing individually, as well as in harmony with the 
Supreme, for the great goal we have in view. 
In brief, we should give expression to all the 
power that we are conscious of, and try to 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 129 

awaken more ; but in all our doing, we should al- 
ways be conscious of the one great truth, that 
God is with us, and it matters not what our work 
may be, whether it be material, mental or spirit- 
ual, if we proceed with our work in the conscious- 
ness of that wonderful truth, that God is with us, 
and that "My Father worketh and I work," we 
will realize that we are in touch with something 
that adds immensely to our power, to our wis- 
dom, to our courage, to our determination, to 
our inspiration, and to our faith. We shall find, 
therefore, that much is added from higher 
sources to that which we already possess; and 
whatever our work may be, we will accomplish 
more, and in less time ; and instead of our work 
being wearisome, it will become a pleasure. 

The results of such an attitude will make all 
the difference in the world; but we are not de- 
pending upon the Higher; we are not asking the 
Higher to do everything for us; we are doing 
our part, and doing all that we possibly can, giv- 
ing full expression to all that is in us, and yet, 
at the same time, we realize that the Higher is 
working with us, and that we are filled and sur- 
rounded with the limitless power of the Supreme. 

We know that there can be nothing greater 
than the realization of this wonderful truth; and 
they who have learned to work in that realization 
have certainly reached a place in life that is val- 
uable far beyond any price. 



130 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

Understanding this important truth, we realize 
that when Jesus went away, he left his friends 
and disciples upon their own resources; hence- 
forth, they would have to depend upon them- 
selves, and upon the wisdom they had already 
received; that is, it would be required of them 
to make full application of their own life and 
talent instead of looking to some superior per- 
sonality to do everything for them. It was 
clearly evident therefore that they would, in the 
course of time, do far greater things than they 
had been able to do while depending largely upon 
that superior wisdom and power that had been 
with them during that wonderful period. 

We understand fully that we may accomplish 
certain things fairly well while imitating some 
one who understands; but if we learn to apply 
the full power of our individuality according to 
the wisdom that we have acquired through our 
contact with some superior soul, we will give ex- 
pression to our own greater activity, to our own 
greater power; and in consequence, greater 
things must inevitably follow. Knowing this, 
we must avoid the tendency to depend upon those 
who may seem to be more competent than we are ; 
and although we should be in harmony with 
everybody, and try to learn from everybody, still 
we should not depend entirely upon any one, not 
even upon the Infinite, because our true relation 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 131 

to God is not to depend upon God, but to live, 
walk, and work with God. 

The truth is, that so long as we depend upon 
any power, visible or invisible, to do things for 
us, we will have no real spirituality of our own ; 
that is, our own spiritual life will not awaken. 
We may to a certain extent be conscious of the 
finer spiritual elements, but we will not know how 
to apply them ; nor will we know how to proceed 
towards the attainment of the master state in 
sublime spiritual consciousness. 

We are all aware of the fact that there is a 
strong tendency among students of the mystical 
and the invisible, to become fascinated with the 
idea that we can gain wonderful help from in- 
visible sources; and this is true to a certain ex- 
tent, but we must remember that wherever we 
may gain help or inspiration, we must avoid ab- 
solutely the tendency to become dependent upon 
any personality or intelligence anywhere in the 
universe. We may receive instruction along 
any line from some one who has become familiar 
with the subject; but if we depend absolutely 
upon that instructor, to lead us all the way, we 
will soon come to a place where we simply re- 
member what has been told, but are incapable of 
working the thing out for ourselves; so there- 
fore where is the gain; we have not advanced a 
single step. 



132 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

We know that every soul is a teacher, and that 
every soul is a learner. We can teach every- 
body and learn from everybody; and the soul that 
takes this attitude, trying to gain wisdom from 
every source, and at the same time trying to add 
to the light of every mind, either by word or by 
individual living, has taken a position where the 
gain will be great in every possible form or man- 
ner. But in each instance, this soul must give 
first attention to its own individuality, and must 
depend directly upon its own efforts and powers 
to apply in life and in destiny what may have 
been gained in all these many ways. 

In pursuing this study, we shall find very soon 
that the most valuable truths come to us through 
our own extension of consciousness, or through 
our own effort to find greater truth according to 
the laws and methods that have been suggested 
to us by great souls of any age. When your own 
soul is in touch with the vast sea of wisdom, and 
yet not depending upon any personality for wis- 
dom, that is the attitude through which the high- 
est light is received. In other words, it is the 
light that we can see with our own vision that 
illumines the mind to the greatest degree, al- 
though we are permitted to be instructed by 
others, for a period, as to the most perfect meth- 
ods in the finding of the light. The spirit of 
truth is everywhere, and we all may open our 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 133 

minds to the light of the spirit of truth, regard- 
less of who we are, or where we may be in the 
cosmos. 

The first interpretation, therefore, of this state- 
ment, would infer that the greater things must 
invariably follow when we learn to depend upon 
our own higher wisdom and power, and thus as- 
sume that attitude of life where we may give ex- 
pression to the highest and best that is w T ithin 
ourselves, while at the same time living and work- 
ing in harmony with all that is good, all that is 
high and all that is sublime anywhere in the 
world. 

The second interpretation of this remarkable 
statement is much deeper and goes much far- 
ther; and this interpretation does not refer to 
Jesus as a personality, but refers to the Christ 
as the only begotton son of the Most High. 
Let us try to forget, therefore, for the time be- 
ing, the personality of Jesus, and let us try to 
think of Christ, the Eternal Spirit, that is en- 
throned in every soul, and one with the Father. 

To try to differentiate between God the Fa- 
ther and God the Son, and also to try to under- 
stand the distinction between the first and second 
person in the Trinity, and the third person, or the 
Holy Spirit will lead us into a very deep meta- 
physical study; and yet, as we grow in spiritual 
understanding, we shall be able to discern how 



134 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

these three are one, and yet in a certain sense dis- 
tinct. The usual conception of the Trinity has 
been so materialistic that we have failed to find 
the real truth involved; but the spiritual under- 
standing will give us the full light on this won- 
derful theme. 

In an external sense we find that the term 
"three in one" is merely a wonderful symbol; 
but as every external symbol is related to a cor- 
responding truth, in the absolute of the spiritual, 
we realize that the triune idea is by no means a 
metaphysical speculation only, but in fact a spir- 
itual truth of wonderful meaning. 

To try to analyze, through spiritual conscious- 
ness, the difference between God the Father and 
God the Son would require much time and much 
fine analytical thinking; but we can simplify the 
matter and state it briefly by saying that God is 
the Infinite, the Omnipresent Spirit, and that 
Christ, being the Son, is God individualized in 
every soul. The Christ is enthroned in every 
soul, and is, therefore, God made manifest in 
man ; and that is how the idea of mediation orig- 
inates; how we reach God through Christ, al- 
though it is not through the personal Jesus, but 
through the Universal Christ, the purely spirit- 
ual Son, because the Christ is the Spirit of God 
living and manifesting in the human soul. 

When we grow in spiritual consciousness, we 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 135 

realize how the Christ is related to God by being 
the individualization of God, and in every human 
soul, and how we are related to Christ through 
the wonderful truth that the Christ is enthroned 
in every soul. And in the same way, we shall 
understand the significance of the Holy Spirit, 
and why our growth in pure spiritual truth must 
come through the ministrations of the Holy 
Spirit. 

Turning now to this wonderful statement, 
"Greater things than these shall ye do, because 
I go unto the Father," we realize that the higher 
our consciousness of the Christ, within us, as- 
cends towards the consciousness of the Infinite, 
the greater becomes our spiritual power. 

The meaning of the term, "because I go unto 
the Father," is this, that the consciousness of the 
human soul ascends towards the consciousness 
of the Supreme; and we know that our own spir- 
ituality depends upon how high we can go in the 
consciousness of the Christ that is enthroned 
within us. The truth is, that our own conscious- 
ness of the Christ is eternally going to the Fa- 
ther; this consciousness is eternally ascending 
into higher and higher realizations of the Omni- 
present Spirit of God ; and we may continue eter- 
nally to go deeper and higher into the real spir- 
itual life of the Infinite, or into the Kingdom of 
God, because there is neither limit nor end to 
the vastness of that life in the kingdom. 



136 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

We do not simply go at a certain time to the 
Kingdom, and then remain forever in a certain 
place in the spiritual life; that is the materialistic 
view; but the materialistic view never contains 
the whole truth, although it may contain an indi- 
cation of the truth. The purely spiritual view 
declares that the human soul, created in the im- 
age and likeness of God, is eternally going to the 
Father, eternally rising in the wonderful spir- 
itual scale; and the spiritual cosmos is so vast 
that we may rise for all eternity to still higher 
states, and still there will be greater and greater 
glories on before. 

But here we must remember that the human 
soul, ascending eternally, higher and higher, into 
the spiritual life of the Infinite, can do so only 
through the Christ that is enthroned in the soul; 
that is, we must become conscious of the Christ 
within us before we can begin to go to the Fa- 
ther. So that the very moment the Christ be- 
gins to go to the Father, or our consciousness of 
the Christ within us is gained so that we may go 
with the Christ, in consciousness, into the higher 
spiritual realization of the Divine, this wonder- 
ful change begins to take place. We no longer 
live in materiality, and we no longer depend upon 
that which is personal; but we begin to advance 
steadily and surely in higher spiritual conscious- 
ness, and thereby secure possession of higher 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 137 

spiritual power. The result must be that the 
greater works will inevitably follow. 

When we realize that the Christ is God en- 
throned in the human soul — enthroned in every 
soul in the vastness of the cosmos ; that the spirit 
of Christ is the central principle of every soul; 
and that the human soul is the real man, the you, 
the me, the "I Am," we discover that it is im- 
possible to separate ourselves as spiritual entities 
from the Son or from the Father. There is a 
unity there that cannot be defined in words ; but 
there is also a differentiation there that cannot 
be defined in words ; but those who are spiritually 
awakened can spiritually discern how we are eter- 
nally individuals, and eternally spiritual entities, 
and at the same time, realize that the chief prin- 
ciple in every soul is the Son of God, the Christ — 
God enthroned in the real spiritual man. 

When we grow in spirituality, and discern that 
wonderful unity on the spiritual side, uniting the 
soul with the Christ, and the Christ with God, 
and all spiritual life with the Holy Spirit in man- 
ifestation, we discover the wonderful meaning 
of the Holy Trinity; and therefore, that term is 
no longer a mere phrase, or a mere expression, 
but a divine truth of wonderful meaning — a truth 
that can be discerned only by those who are spir- 
itually awakened. And they who do discern the 
real meaning of the Trinity have wisdom indeed ; 



138 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

and still the understanding of that sublime truth 
is simply the beginning of real spiritual wisdom. 

We remember the statement, "To know God 
is the beginning of Wisdom," and we know God 
for the first time when we discover this interior 
spiritual relationship — how we, as spiritual en- 
tities, have the Christ enthroned within us, and 
how the Christ is God in manifestation, God liv- 
ing and reigning in every soul in the vastness of 
the cosmos. 

Returning to the original statement, that the 
greater works must follow when the Christ goes 
to the Father, we find that this is not something 
that begins in us at any particular time. The 
Christ does not begin to go to the Father at any 
certain time, because the Christ is eternally going 
to the Father ; but the discovery, however, of this 
eternal truth may come to our consciousness at 
any time. The fact is, that there are a great 
many things that have been taking place for eter- 
nity, and yet those things have seemingly been 
hidden from us ; in other words, we are just awak- 
ening to the realization of the wonderful things 
that have been going on upon higher planes for 
ages and eternities. 

God has been giving everything to this count- 
less number of human souls for all time, but we 
may not have known this great truth. However, 
at a certain time we all awaken to that truth ; and 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 139 

at our first awakening, it seems as if God just 
began to do these things for us. But as we be- 
come more fully awake in the spirit, w r e learn that 
God has been doing these things for us during 
all eternity, although we were not ready to accept 
His gifts or enter into unity with Him in work- 
ing out the wonderful destiny that we all have 
in store. 

Knowing this truth, we realize that higher 
spiritual power has been pouring down upon us 
for ages and ages; but we did not receive that 
power, not being spiritually awakened. When 
we awaken in the spirit, however, then we begin 
to appropriate more and more of this power, and 
the greater life and the greater work must fol- 
low. 

The same is true of the Christ going to the 
Father. The Christ in us is eternally rising in 
the vast spiritual world; and when we become 
conscious of this, we enter into harmony with 
that wonderful ascension, that is, the ascension 
of the Christ eternally taking place in our own 
soul; and when we make this discovery, or when 
we awaken to that wonderful spiritual process, 
it is clearly evident that great spiritual power is 
added; accordingly, greater works must follow. 

What these greater works are to be will de- 
pend largely upon our own ability and power in 
life. There are very few of us who really feel 



140 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

the need of what may be called miracles, although 
as we grow in spirituality, we are liable at any 
time, to experience demonstrations in our very 
presence that are truly miraculous. But the 
greater works, in many instances, will be the 
greater awakening of spiritual consciousness, the 
elimination of ailments and imperfection, the 
overcoming of the world and of all things that 
pertain to this world, the complete mastery over 
mind and body, and the conscious possession of 
those greater powers within us through which we 
may attain and accomplish the highest purpose 
or the most wonderful goal that imagination can 
picture in the lofty world of the ideal. 

Whatever the greater work may be in the pres- 
ent life of each one of us, the essential principle 
is this, that we gain the power to do the greater 
things because the Christ enthroned in us is eter- 
nally going to the Father. However, we must 
become conscious of that eternal ascension, be- 
cause it is only as we become conscious of that 
ascension that our own consciousness takes 
higher and higher ground. 

We know through our own experience, that as 
we ascend spiritually into loftier realms, into 
higher states, that the power is greater, the light 
more brilliant, and the wisdom more wonderful ; 
we realize gain in every conceivable manner. 
We grow in wisdom, in understanding, in power 



I GO UNTO THE FATHER 141 

and in spirituality; and the result must always 
be that the greater works will follow; and this 
is the spiritual meaning of the great statement 
under consideration. 

The whole truth of this statement is purely 
spiritual; but this whole truth is so vast that we 
may ascend into it, higher and higher, for all 
eternity, forever rising into the greater power, 
the greater wisdom and the greater light; and 
forever manifesting the greater and the greater 
works that invariably follow. There is no end 
to that life, to that attainment, to that ascension 
in spirituality; and therefore, we can truthfully 
say, that however great the work of any exalted 
soul may be to-day, that soul will perform still 
greater work in the higher life of the wonderful 
future. 



CHAPTER XIV 

I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 

To know the Christ — the real Christ — to un- 
derstand the full significance of the first coming 
of the Christ — and to know when and how the 
second coming is to take place — these are vital 
and living themes among all who are deeply and 
sincerely interested in the realities of the spirit- 
ual world. 

In order to know the real Christ, we shall find 
it absolutely necessary to make a clear distinc- 
tion between Jesus of Nazareth and the universal 
Christ. We know that the Christ was incar- 
nated in Jesus of Nazareth, but there is a distinc- 
tion between the two that must not be ignored. 
We know that Jesus of Nazareth was a person- 
ality, but the Christ is not a personality, although 
spoken of as the second person in the Trinity. 
We also know that Jesus of Nazareth did not 
claim to be the savior; but we know that the 
Christ is the savior, so that what we have been 
taught in this regard is practically true, although 
our spiritual conception of salvation is very dif- 
ferent from the literal conception. 

142 



I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 143 

To appreciate the mission and need of a savior, 
we must understand that God creates man for a 
certain purpose; or rather sends the human soul 
out into the manifested world to create an ever- 
ascending destiny. For a time the soul is seem- 
ingly separated from God, or from the Creator, 
and it appears as if the soul was left alone for 
the time being to work out its own life ; but here 
we must not forget that beautiful statement, 
"God so loved the world that he gave his only 
Son." 

However, this giving of His only Son does not 
simply refer to the appearance of the Christ 
through Jesus of Nazareth two thousand years 
ago. The truth is that God is eternally giving 
his only Son to every soul in the vastness of the 
cosmos. Whenever a soul is sent out into the 
world to work out its destiny, the Christ inva- 
riably goes with that soul ; and although there are 
times in the life of that soul when it seems to be 
drifting upon the sea of existence, and that the 
Christ is apparently asleep in the ship ; or to state 
the exact truth — the soul itself is not awakened 
to the presence of the Christ in the ship; but the 
Christ is there ; and whenever the Christ is called 
upon he will arise in the life of that soul and 
still the storm. 

When we enter spiritual consciousness, we 
realize that the Christ is the Universal Spirit; 



144 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

that is, the only begotten of God — God manifest- 
ing himself — going forth to follow and be with 
every soul upon the great journey of life. And 
here we should remember another beautiful 
statement: "I will not forsake thee nor leave 
thee; I am thy redeemer; I will care for thee." 
And this is literally true. The Christ never for- 
sakes a single soul. The Christ is always with 
us and is always waiting at the door of conscious- 
ness to be of service to us whenever we are ready 
to change our life and return to the higher states 
of existence. 

In this connection, we find the ancient doctrine 
of the second person in the Trinity as the savior, 
to be absolutely true, although the spiritual un- 
derstanding of that doctrine is far different from 
what we have been taught in the literal sense. 
It would be very interesting to enlarge exten- 
sively upon this phase of the subject, but here 
we need simply remember that every soul, as it 
goes out into the vastness and richness of life's 
domain, does not go alone; the Christ goes with 
every soul ; the Christ may be found in the ship 
of every life; and there is a wonderful reason 
why. 

The soul goes into the manifested life to work 
out a marvelous destiny. The soul is potentially 
divine, and is endued with power from on High ; 
but as the soul is born in materiality, the light of 



I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 145 

the Spirit may for a time be partly or seemingly 
hidden ; and in order that the soul may work out 
its wonderful purpose, it must not be wholly sep- 
arated from its divine source. It must not be 
left alone ; it must not be permitted to go astray ; 
and God so loved the world that he brought forth 
his only Son — the only perfect manifestation of 
his own divinity — and declared that this only Son 
should follow every soul upon the great journey 
of life — to guide and lead, so that every soul 
might be saved from going astray — the wonder- 
ful destiny of every soul finally perfected — the 
individual soul in time comes forth upon the spir- 
itual heights, clothed with the glory of sublime 
victory. 

In this very place we might consider the fact 
that it would have been possible for the Infinite 
to have created us all perfect ; that is, not simply 
perfect in potentiality, but perfect in actuality; 
but when we ask ourselves the great question, 
" Would we rather be created perfect, or would 
we rather be given the privilege to work out our 
own perfection ?" we all would answer, "Give 
me the privilege to earn what I receive; give me 
the privilege to work out this wonderful life my- 
self; and when I have reached the supreme 
heights, let me be able to say that I, myself, have 
lived and worked for every step of the way, and 
am the personal creator of the great victory and 
triumph that I now have realized. ,, 



146 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

When we look at life in this manner we in- 
variably conclude that the plan of life is very 
good. There are some dark moments in exist- 
ence; still we would not have the plan changed. 
We feel like saying with the Creator in the dis- 
tant past, "Behold, it is all very good." 

We are given the privilege to work out this 
wonderful destiny that lies before us ; but we are 
not left alone. The spirit of the Christ — the only 
begotten of God — is watching over every soul, 
always ready to lead, guide, direct, save; and 
although the soul frequently becomes confused 
while still living in materiality, nevertheless, 
there need be no anxiety as to the future, because 
the Christ is here with us all ; and his promise is 
ever the same, "I will not forsake thee nor leave 
thee, I am thy redeemer, I will care for thee." 

When we consider the first coming of the 
Christ we shall have to come to a somewhat dif- 
ferent conclusion from the one to which we are 
accustomed. We all have heard a thousand 
times the story of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, 
and we know the world in general looks upon 
that birth as the first coming of the Christ. 
However, the truth is that that wonderful birth 
was only a part of the first appearance. The 
first coming of the Christ is that coming of the 
Christ that we discern when the Christ spirit 
manifests to us through other personalities; and 



I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 147 

there have been, and now are many partial man- 
ifestations of the Christ everywhere in the world. 
Wherever you see tenderness, kindness, love, for- 
giveness, sympathy, or the finer things in life 
expressed through any personality; or whenever 
you discern those higher and more beautiful hu- 
man traits, it is the manifestation of the Christ 
Spirit that you discern, appearing to a limited 
degree through human entities here and there. 
It is a portion of the first appearance — that ap- 
pearance that can be discerned only by the phys- 
ical sense of man. 

When you go about in the world you may see 
many a human soul that happens to be in an 
attitude where the Christ Spirit is given an op- 
portunity to express itself wonderfully; and you 
feel that you have witnessed an appearance that 
is higher than that of mere man ; and we know 
that there is not a single human being, no matter 
how far down in the scale that being may be, that 
does not at certain times give expression to the 
Christ Spirit; and the reason is evident, because 
the Spirit of the Christ, the only begotten, is in 
the ship of every life. The Spirit of the Christ 
is hovering over every soul, waiting for every 
opportunity to manifest, and thereby lift that 
life to higher realms. 

We have frequently looked upon the faces of 
those that we have considered depraved, and at 



148 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

certain times we could see something beautiful 
there, a finer touch, a more sublime expression, 
indicating unmistakably that Divinity was not 
far away; and whenever we have met such expe- 
riences, our faith in humanity and the future 
glory of the race has been wonderfully renewed. 
The truth is, when the beautiful spirit of the 
Christ can find expression, even through those 
personalities that are at the very lowest place in 
the scale of life, then what may we not expect 
from those who are on the way to the lofty 
heights of pure, spiritual illumination? 

Many a time we meet people where the Christ 
Spirit is manifesting wonderfully — where their 
sympathy is universal — where their spirit of for- 
giveness is sublime — where the tenderness and 
sweetness of character and life is something that 
is too high and too beautiful for words to define ; 
and again it is the Christ leading the soul into 
the beautiful pathways of sublime existence. It 
is the Christ appearing through another person- 
ality. It is another instance of the first coming. 

All of this is perfectly natural, inasmuch as the 
Christ Spirit continues to go with every soul 
everywhere; and it is perfectly natural that the 
Christ Spirit should give expression to the lofty, 
the pure and the beautiful whenever sublime mo- 
ments appear in the life of the soul. 

In this connection we realize that if we would 



I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 149 

give greater opportunity for the manifestation of 
the Christ Spirit ; in brief, train ourselves to live 
more and more in touch with the lofty, the sub- 
lime and the spiritual, we would find that the 
Christ Spirit would manifest far more fre- 
quently, and in a far more wonderful manner. 

The appearance of the Christ through Jesus 
of Nazareth was, in truth, the most wonderful 
in history; that is, when we consider the first 
appearance; but it differed only in degree from 
the Christ appearance in other personalities. It 
was indeed the highest expression of the first 
appearance — the only begotten Son manifesting 
through a human personality ; and the reason was 
that Jesus of Nazareth lived in a personality that 
gave permission to the fullest manifestation of 
the Christ. 

When we realize that the first coming of the 
Christ simply means the appearance of the Christ 
through any or every personality in such a man- 
ner that this Spirit becomes evident to the phys- 
ical senses, we may think for a moment that the 
appearance of the Christ through Jesus of Naz- 
areth does not occupy as important a position as 
we previously believed ; but we need not come to 
any such conclusion, because that appearance was 
nothing less than marvelous ; and the effect upon 
the world for all time was extraordinary. 

We do not lose any of the beauty or the power 



■ISO IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

of this remarkable first coming by accepting the 
idea that the first coming of the Christ is con- 
stantly taking place in every human personality 
whenever the divine is given expression. The 
truth is, we gain immensely by accepting this 
idea, because it is, indeed, both beautiful and con- 
soling to know that the Christ did not leave the 
world two thousand years ago, after manifesting 
in that wonderful manner for a few years only, 
but continues to dwell constantly as before, with 
every human soul — "I will not forsake thee nor 
leave thee" — always ready to lead and inspire — 
always at hand, manifesting in many places, man- 
ifesting through all souls at certain times. And 
if we would draw more closely to the realization 
of this wonderful truth, our salvation from ma- 
teriality, from limitation, from bondage to 
things, would be realized instantaneously. 

We know that while we are out upon the sea 
of life, the ship is tempest tossed ; and not know- 
ing that the Christ is there with us, we try to 
work our way as well as we possibly can; but it 
is frequently difficult. It may take years and 
years before we succeed in coming out of the 
stormy conditions; but if we would remember 
that the Christ is in the ship, and call upon him, 
he would arise at once and still the storm. 

We remember the statement, "Man's extrem- 
ity is God's opportunity," and we all have come 



I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 151 

to places where we realized that we could not do 
anything any more personally. Then we turned 
to God; we remembered, "I am with you always," 
and we called upon the Christ who was asleep in 
the ship; we gave up absolutely to the guidance 
of the Spirit; and in a wonderful and seemingly 
miraculous manner, things took a turn. Some- 
thing unusual happened, and we were set free. 
We found ourselves emancipated from bondage, 
and we found ourselves in the presence of new 
conditions, new environments, new experiences; 
and everything became beautiful and ideal. 

There is remarkable power, as well as consola- 
tion, in the great truth that the Christ is always 
with us — that the Christ goes out with every soul 
upon the journey of life, frequently manifesting 
in various ways through the personality of every 
soul; and all such manifestations — manifesta- 
tions that are evident to the physical sense of us 
all — such manifestations we speak of as the first 
coming — the first appearance of the Christ to the 
human race. 

The second coming of the Christ is purely spir- 
itual, and takes place within the higher states of 
consciousness of every individual soul. When 
you can turn consciousness upon the spiritual 
within, or upon the reality of your own soul, you 
will awaken to the great truth that the Christ is 
within; and the Christ will appear to you in the 



152 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

spiritual within. This is the second coming, and 
is the final coming of the Christ to you, because 
everything that we can realize from w T ithin is 
final; that is, it leads us to the highest that we 
can know in this realm of existence. 

The more perfectly we understand the lofty 
significance of the second coming, as a purely 
spiritual appearance of the Christ to the soul, 
the more wonderful it becomes; but before pass- 
ing further in that spiritual study, it is well to 
speak more definitely about Jesus of Nazareth. 

There is one thing that adds immensely to our 
spiritual experience; and it is this, that when- 
ever we can see the spiritual meaning of things, 
we find that the literal meaning is not eliminated, 
but rather illuminated. There are thousands of 
people to-day who believe in the literal com- 
ing, and believe in both the first and second 
coming as purely literal; and the reason is evi- 
dent. The human race thus far, living largely 
in materiality, has a tendency to demand the 
literal expression of everything; the tendency 
is to want to see this wonderful coming in the 
sky; and such people demand a literal, tangible 
appearance. Then there is another class that 
looks upon every appearance of the Christ as 
purely spiritual. They declare that Jesus did 
not live, that the Virgin Mary was only a symbol, 
and that the resurrection, as well as everything 



I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 153 

else spoken of in the life of Jesus — all were spir- 
itual symbols. 

However, when we discern the spiritual mean- 
ing of it all, we realize that the spiritual side is 
universal, and that the literal or tangible mani- 
festation is only one out of many manifestations, 
all having their source in the spiritual; but the 
literal manifestations, even though temporary 
and partial, are nevertheless real. 

Jesus of Nazareth did live, and he was so in- 
spired by the spirit of the Christ, the only be- 
gotten Son, that his personality and the Christ 
Spirit became for the time being as one ; but here 
we must not forget that other great souls may 
reach the same height; that is, become so in- 
spired by the Spirit of the Christ that their per- 
sonalities may appear to be as one with the Christ. 

The Virgin Mary lived, and was the natural 
mother of Jesus; and here let us consider, what 
is indeed one of the greatest revelations in his- 
tory ; but it is a revelation that has scarcely been 
recognized. When the Christ comes or appears 
to the human soul, we cannot discern the Christ, 
or spiritually conceive of the Christ, unless our 
mental and spiritual conceptions are immaculate, 
that is, absolutely pure. 'The pure in heart 
shall see God." The pure in mind can conceive 
of these lofty spiritual truths; and every mind 
must be pure and immaculate in its mental and 



154 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

spiritual conceptions before it can discern the 
Christ. This is the real immaculate conception; 
and it is both mental and spiritual — absolutely- 
necessary if the Christ is to be born into the life 
of any individual. 

However, we find this same truth manifesting 
upon the physical plane in a certain way; and 
herein we shall discover something of unusual 
importance. We know that God created nature 
and its laws, and it is not necessary for God to 
change the laws of nature in order to bring a 
remarkable soul into the world; but here we 
should remember what was said of the Virgin 
Mary. "She was overshadowed by the Holy 
Spirit"; and that is the reason she became the 
mother of that great and illumined soul; and it 
is indeed true that if every mother would enter 
into that sublime state of consciousness, where 
she could realize the presence of the Holy Spirit 
during the prenatal period, every child born into 
the world would be endowed with higher spirit- 
ual power, and would be gifted in a wonderful 
manner. 

We can understand perfectly that if the ma- 
ternal mind is material during the prenatal pe- 
riod, that is, thinks only of tangible things, and 
lives only in the world of things, the unborn 
child will have nothing but materiality upon 
which to draw for physical, mental or spiritual 



I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 155 

sustenance; and it does not require any logic to 
prove that such a child will be just an ordinary 
child. On the other hand, if the maternal mind 
would, during that period, be overshadowed by 
the Holy Spirit — if the maternal mind would live 
in the consciousness of the high, the sublime, the 
lofty and the beautiful, constantly communing 
with wonderful spiritual realms, and continuing 
in this sublime state of mind, feeling, life and 
consciousness during that important period — we 
can readily understand that the child would be 
remarkable. Such a child would, during the 
formative period, have the privilege to be nour- 
ished by thoughts that were rich, elements that 
were inspired, forces that contained within them- 
selves all that is high and wonderful in human 
life; in brief, Higher Power would constantly 
thrill the unborn creature; finer elements would 
go to make up the substance of the body, the 
power of the mind and the nature of the soul. 
That child, therefore, would certainly appear as 
a prodigy, or as a great master mind, or as a 
marvelous genius, or as a great prophet, or il- 
lumined soul. 

The Virgin Mary lived in that lofty state dur- 
ing the prenatal period of the child Jesus. She 
was in constant touch with the sublime world of 
the spirit, and she was spoken of as a Virgin 
because she was pure, meaning that she lived in 



156 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

the purity of the lofty, the beautiful, the spirit- 
ual and the sublime. The Holy Spirit, there- 
fore, could enter into her life and into the life 
of her unborn child. In truth, every thought, 
every feeling, every element and every vein in 
her entire being — all were thrilled and inspired 
by power from on High. The result was that 
Jesus of Nazareth appeared as the highest and 
the most wonderful personality that was ever 
born into the world. 

We realize in this connection that the human 
race has been given a wonderful truth, one of the 
most wonderful and most sublime that has even 
been revealed to human consciousness. And in 
recent years this great truth is being recognized ; 
we are beginning to understand the spiritual 
meaning of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the 
mother of every unborn child. We are fast com- 
ing into this remarkable understanding; and 
when we begin to realize the full meaning of this 
truth, we cannot fail to understand that mother- 
hood is indeed the greatest privilege upon this 
planet, and will be considered as such by every- 
body in coming days. 

We know that we are here upon this planet 
to work out a wonderful destiny ; in brief, we are 
here to bring the kingdom of heaven upon earth ; 
and one of the greatest essentials to that end is 
to bring forth upon this planet a finer race of 



I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS 157 

people — loftier minds, more refined and more 
beautiful bodies, more perfect human entities, 
and in truth, master minds and spiritual giants. 
We need them all if we are to convert this planet 
into the wonderful world which we know it is 
destined to become; and here we have the secret 
— a most powerful illustration of which took 
place two thousand years ago. But the mean- 
ing of it all has been misunderstood, due to literal 
interpretation; and the race thus far has gained 
but little from that remarkable revelation. 
However, we know, that with the Supreme, one 
day is as a thousand years, so that even though 
the race may have neglected this revelation for 
two thousand years, we need not be disturbed, 
inasmuch as we have eternity before us. But, 
whenever we do receive a great revelation, and 
understand it, we should proceed at once to make 
use of it in real life. 

We must proceed, therefore, to make this reve- 
lation a part of real life upon this planet from 
this day on; and we know that there is nothing 
more wonderful, or more inspiring than to meet 
a human entity that is highly developed, filled 
with the lofty, the marvelous and the sublime. 
There is nothing upon this planet that is superior 
to a real man or a real woman; and the experi- 
ence of the Virgin Mary has given us the secret 
through which such men and women may appear 



158 IN THE LIGHT OE THE SPIRIT 

on this planet by the thousands, tens of thou- 
sands, and by the millions. 

Considering again, the true significance of the 
second coming, we must remember that this com- 
ing is never an external event, but an internal 
and purely spiritual event; an event that trans- 
pires again and again in the finer consciousness 
of every highly developed soul. 

The spirit of the Christ will come to you, in 
your own soul, whenever you are spiritually 
awakened, and lead you on and on, to greater 
and greater heights, until you reach the power 
and the splendor of the master state — when you 
can say, in truth, "My Father and I are One" — 
when you know that, "All that the Father hath 
is mine" — and when your own life becomes so 
wonderfully illumined by the glory of His pres- 
ence, that your face will shine as the sun, and 
your garments become white as the light. 



CHAPTER XV 

IT IS WELL WITH THE SOUL 

When we enter the innermost and uppermost 
realms of the soul, we find a wonderful world 
of peace, of joy, of light, of splendor — seemingly 
apart from all other worlds in existence. And 
it is a world wherein all things are always well. 
This wonderful and sublime world has been 
spoken of, by the illumined of all ages, as the 
Secret Places of the Most High; and this is what 
it is in truth. It is a secret place because when 
you are in that world you are apart from all 
else; you are free from all conditions and things; 
you are alone with the Most High, in the glory 
of His radiant presence. It is evident therefore 
that when you are in that world you are where 
all is always well. 

The existence of this secret place is not known 
to many; but it is something, concerning which, 
all the world should know. Everybody should 
know that there is a place somewhere in the up- 
per regions of our own spiritual existence where 
the ills of life can never enter, but into which we 
may enter now, to-day, or at any time. And 

159 



160 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

more, we may learn to live in that sublime state 
almost continually, and thus gain the perfect free- 
dom of the soul now, and realize, all through life, 
the peace that passeth understanding. 

This secret place is the abiding place of the 
Most High in us ; it is that world of light within 
our own soul existence where we may enter and 
meet the Infinite face to face ; it is that transcend- 
ent state of spiritual realization in which we al- 
ways feel that God is closer than breathing, 
nearer than hands and feet; it is that inner con- 
sciousness of the singleness of all life wherein 
we can say with the Master Mind, "My Father 
and I are one" ; it is that exalted height of spir- 
itual attainment where we behold, for the first 
time, with our own vision, what God has pre- 
pared for them that love Him; it is the kingdom 
of heaven in us wherein the Christ reigns for- 
evermore. 

This secret place is not merely a place of which 
we can speak during our lofty moments; it is a 
place of which we can speak whenever the soul 
looks unto the heights — a place to which we may 
go whenever we feel the need of God. And all 
consecrated souls feel the need of God every mo- 
ment of every day. For it is the truth that with- 
out God no moment can be complete — no hour can 
be what the highest and best holds in store. It 
is only when God is taken into the life of every 



•IT IS WELL WITH THE SOUL 161 

moment — into the tangible activities of every 
hour, that we can say that the best has come, 
and that the greatest good possible to-day has 
been realized. 

The entire world should know of the existence 
of this sublime state, because it is the one place 
of refuge, of freedom, of peace. When we are 
in this state we are absolutely free; we know 
nothing of physical ills for we are where ills 
can never enter. We are not affected by ex- 
ternal conditions; nor do the coming or going 
of things disturb us in the least. We are where 
all is always well ; we are above everything that 
is passing, that is temporal, that is imperfect, that 
is wrong. We are where God is ; and while there 
with Him, in the secret places, we can truthfully 
say, "It is well, it is well, with the soul." 

But it is not only well with the soul when we 
are there in that wonderful, beautiful world. It 
is also well with all else in our world, internal and 
external. For here we must know a great truth. 
It is this, that when we enter where all is well 
we cause things to become well, not only in tho 
soul, but also in body and mind. When we en- 
ter where pain can never come, w T e cause all pain 
to cease throughout our entire being, physical, 
mental and spiritual. When we enter where 
there is always perfect freedom, we secure at the 
same time complete emancipation from all 



162 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

wrongs and ills in our state of existence. When 
we enter where all is wholeness and purity, we 
cause all things to become whole and pure in us 
— in body, mind and soul at the self-same mo- 
ment. For the truth is that we cause all things 
in our own world to become as we are ; therefore, 
all will be well with all things in our world when 
we are in the secret places, because in these places 
all is always well. 

How important therefore that all mankind 
should learn to enter this innermost and upper- 
most realm of the soul. And what a change 
would come over the world if all could know 
how to enter this secret place whenever the need 
or desire was present. It would mean the pass- 
ing of all ills, and the coming of the Great Day — 
the Day wherein every soul shall find rest, eman- 
cipation and light. It would mean the coming 
of the Golden Age — an age of which every 
prophet has dreamed. And this age will come; 
that dream will be realized ; but it will not come 
through repeated attempts to change conditions 
in the without; it will come when we learn to find 
the kingdom within — when we learn to enter this 
wonderful world in the soul where all is always 
well. 

However, we shall not give all our attention 
to the dreams of the future, but rather consider 
what we may realize in the present as we learn, 



IT IS WELL WITH THE SOUL 163 

more and more perfectly, to enter these secret 
places of the lofty within. Knowing that all is 
always well within these secret places, we must 
know that emancipation from every ill must fol- 
low the very moment the gates for us swing ajar. 
And as we pass within, and find ourselves in that 
world of peace and light, we are free — free abso- 
lutely in all things. None of "these things" 
move us any more. We are not anxious about 
anything, because we are where all is well; and 
to be where all is well is to cause all things to 
continue to be well. 

In this realm we consider only that which is 
good, and the good that is everywhere in a state 
of becoming. We do not consider, in the least, 
that which does not seem to be good; for the 
truth is that while we are in the secret places, 
there is nothing that does not appear good. We 
see things from the upper side. We can see the 
real. We see that upon which the eternal light 
is ever shining. We do not see the shadow; nor 
is it necessary that we should, for a shadow holds 
nothing, is nothing, means nothing. In this up- 
per realm we see the real, the true, the eternal; 
and although we are aware of imperfections, they 
are not imperfections to us ; they are simply roses 
in the bud. Then why should we be anxious 
or disturbed? Why should we doubt the com- 
ing of the bloom, or try to force each individual 



164 IN THE LIGHT OE THE SPIRIT 

flower to bloom in advance of its own time and 
day? 

The ways of the world, or the thoughts of the 
world, do not affect you so long as you live in 
the secret places ; for in these places all ways are 
good ways, and all thoughts are in the image of 
truth. You are in the right, living in the full 
realization of that which is right ; you are in the 
truth, thinking the truth ; and therefore the ways 
and thoughts of the world can no more be where 
you are than darkness can be where all is light. 
Thus you are at peace, regardless of what the 
world may think, say or do. 

The coming or going of external possession 
does not disturb you while your life is fixed on 
high among the marvelous riches of the soul. 
You have found the most precious and costly of 
all precious things — you are in the consciousness 
of the wealth untold, compared with which all 
the riches in the world are mere trifles indeed. 
Nor can you ever be disturbed by external places 
or environments. You have found the secret 
places of all that is good and beautiful and ideal ; 
you have found the blessed abode of sublime ex- 
istence; you have found the peace that passeth 
understanding, and the contentment that is 
deeper than the depth of the fathomless sea. 
You have found that glorified state wherein your 
soul delights forevermore, and therefore cannot 



IT IS WELL WITH THE SOUL 165 

be downcast if external environments should fail 
to please. the desires of sense. If those environ- 
ments do please your senses, you are glad; but 
if they do not please just now, you are not dis- 
pleased in any form or manner. You have 
found that which pleases infinitely more than all 
the delights of the external world — you have 
found the secret places — you have met Him face 
to face, and you now live in the splendor and joy 
of His glory. 

We must remember, however, that although 
we may live constantly in this sublime state of 
peace — in this uppermost kingdom where all is 
always well — we are not indifferent to things 
about us, nor do we neglect the needs of others. 
This wonderful meeting with God does not sep- 
arate us from man; nor does this freedom from 
the ills of the world take us away from our 
spheres of helpfulness to mankind. The truth is 
that after we have found that place where there 
are no ills, we devote far more attention than 
ever before to the gaining of the same emancipa- 
tion for others. We are far more watchful of 
the needs of others, but we are above their suffer- 
ings and ills; we are not affected by their pains 
or tribulations; we have taken higher ground; 
we are living where pains can never come; we 
have arisen from the lowlands of weakness and 
ailment; we have gone up into the majestic 



166 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

heights of freedom and strength; and therefore 
we are far more able than before to help those 
who are still in bondage. And also, our desires 
to help others to reach the same lofty places of 
rest and peace, are infinitely stronger than in the 
past. Thus we realize that whenever another 
soul finds entrance into the secret places of the 
Most High, a new savior has been given to the 
world. 

In considering this wonderful message for 
daily use, the great truth to be always held in 
mind is this that there is an upper realm in every 
soul where all is always well., There is such a 
realm in your own spiritual world ; and you may 
enter at any time. You may live constantly, or 
almost constantly, in that realm of peace and 
freedom now while here upon this earth. In 
that realm no ill can ever enter. Therefore, take 
refuge there, and free yourself from suffering, 
tribulations and pain. These do not belong to 
you. Go where they are not. Live where you 
will be above them. Depart from them even 
now, and the moment you say to them, farewell, 
they exist to you no more. 

There is a sacred kingdom within us where all 
is sweetly serene. It is a land of indescribable 
delight, so far above the world of pain and 
wrong, that the storms of unenlightened life can 
never beat upon its fair elysian shore. It is the 



IT IS WELL WITH THE SOUL 167 

paradise we long have sought. We must learn 
to live there. All the world must learn to live 
there. Then shall indeed the reign of peace and 
righteousness come down upon the world, and 
the glories of heaven shall cover the earth as the 
waters cover the sea. 

'And it must be so, for ills and wrongs can exist 
only so long as we reproduce them. But when 
we go and live where ills and wrongs can never 
be, we shall neither produce them nor reproduce 
them any more. Thus we shall have risen above 
ills; we also shall have put out of existence those 
conditions from which ills have sprung in the 
past. We shall have gone from the world of 
darkness, and with the same act given light to 
all that world. 

But how shall these things be? What must 
we do that we may find the way to that sacred 
realm of freedom, peace and joy? What secret 
wisdom must we search and understand before 
those gates will turn ajar? What must we be- 
come, attain or achieve before our spiritual 
strength becomes sufficient to scale those heights 
of splendor, beyond whose brilliant glories this 
world of light is found? 

We must do much; we must do all that any 
soul that is sincere can ever do, if wc would al- 
ways live beyond those heights, and thus abide 
forever where all is always well. But now, even 



168 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

before we have attained to that majestic state of 
wisdom, light and power where we can rise at 
will to those supernal heights, we may step in 
beyond the gates, and feel the joy, the peace, the 
life, the bliss that this fair kingdom holds in 
store. And all we needs must do is simply this, 
to know that this most sacred realm is here 
within the spirit of us all. 

Know that the secret places are within the 
highest spirit of your soul, and you have found 
the way. But there must be no doubt — never 
the least shadow of a doubt. If there be doubt 
the knowing is not complete; and knowing is not 
knowing unless it is complete. Know therefore 
that there is a world within you where all is al- 
ways well, and you have found the key that can 
unlock the gate. Henceforth, you may, at any 
time, take refuge there within the soul, where ills 
and pains can never come — where grief and 
wrong can never enter — where sins and tribula- 
tions are as naught. 

The only barriers to that fair kingdom are 
made of mental states that do not know. There- 
fore, to him who knows, and knows so deeply and 
so well that doubt has ceased to be, such barriers 
are no more. To him the way is cleared; the 
gates are wide ajar; and he may go and come 
according to his will. 

The first great truth that we must know is this, 



IT IS WELL WITH THE SOUU 169 

that all is possible when we know. And the sec- 
ond is akin to this, declaring with conviction and 
with power, that all things are truly possible, 
even now. The only obstacle in the world is 
doubt ; the only barrier is not to know. It is only 
doubt and mental darkness that holds the human 
race in weakness, and that causes man to live in 
limitations. These therefore must be put away; 
and when they are, the soul of man shall rise to 
greater heights and richer splendors than even 
seers have seen before. The visions of the 
prophets shall be surpassed, and the highest re- 
gions of life that thought has ever pictured for 
the future goal of man, shall prove to be no more 
than early steps in the soul's triumphant flight. 

It is when we know that we know the way; 
for when we know, it is then we are in the light ; 
and he who is in the light can see most clearly 
where to go, and how and when. Know there- 
fore that there is a sacred realm within where all 
is always well, and you shall see the way. It 
is this knowing that has given you the light ; and 
he who has the light will need no further guid- 
ance. 

Wherever we may be today, this message 
should be taken to the heart, and made a part of 
life. For it is true that man can even now be 
free; there is a realm within his soul where free- 
dom is and ever more shall be. And every soul, 



170 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

by knowing this, can enter there today. It is 
what all the world should know. It is a message 
we should all proclaim — declaring with convic- 
tion and with power — there is a realm within us 
all where all is always well. It is the secret 
places where God abides in man, and where we 
meet Him face to face. It is where God and man 
commune in spirit and in truth — where all that 
is in God is given unto man — where the soul 
comes forth in wisdom and in glory, knowing 
that the human is divine. And that which is 
divine must needs have peace and joy and free- 
dom evermore. 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE SPIRITUAL BORDERLAND 

We have learned much concerning the subjec- 
tive, or the subconscious — that immense world 
of mentality that lies beneath the waking con- 
sciousness of man ; but we have not learned much 
concerning the superconscious — that far greater 
world of mentality that is above the usual or 
waking consciousness of man. And although 
the subconscious is a great marvel, the greatest 
marvel known to science, still the superconscious 
is a far greater marvel — in truth, so great that it 
is beyond the reach and comprehension of modern 
science. It is only those minds therefore that 
are highly developed in spiritual or transcenden- 
tal consciousness, and who can clearly discern 
the higher and finer things, that can reach and 
comprehend the superconscious. And to these 
minds, this upper realm in the mental world is 
marvelous indeed, far beyond the power of words 
to describe. 

If we would know more of the superconscious, 
we must develop greater spirituality and train 
our own minds in higher and finer lines of 

171 



172 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

thought; for the superconscious is a world that 
those alone can appreciate who can go up among 
its indescribable wonders and see for themselves. 
But regardless of this fact, there is much that can 
be said, concerning the superconscious, that will 
be intelligible to all minds who live more or less 
on the borderland of the spiritual world. 

To state something definite concerning this 
upper world of the mind of man, it is well, at the 
outset, to make a general comparison between 
the superconscious and the other two fields of 
consciousness ; that is, the conscious and the sub- 
conscious. And here we must remember that 
there are three fields of consciousness in the whole 
mind of man. The first is the conscious, that 
field in which the mind functions during its 
usual waking activities. The second is the sub- 
conscious, that field into which the mind enters 
more or less during the waking state, whenever 
thought or feeling is deep, and into which the 
mind enters completely during normal sleep. 
The third is the superconscious, that field into 
which the mind enters when it takes wings, so to 
speak, and ascends to the upper realms of the 
wonderful mental world. 

Whenever our thoughts are very high, and 
we feel that the mind is sailing about among the 
glories and splendors of empyrean heights, we 
have, for the time being, gone up into the super- 



THE SPIRITUAL BORDERLAND 173 

conscious. In truth, we are frequently very high 
in the superconscious whenever we know that 
we are in mental touch with the transcendent and 
the sublime; and we are frequently lifted into 
such realms by music that is truly of the soul. 
We are also lifted into these realms by a number 
of other things in life that tend to inspire the 
mind towards the lofty, the beautiful, the ideal, 
the noble, the majestic and the true. 

In comparing these three phases of conscious- 
ness we may liken the conscious mind to the mov- 
ing billows on the surface of the sea — always in 
action, but only on the surface. We may liken 
the subconscious to the deep waters beneath the 
surface of the sea ; and we may liken the super- 
conscious to the vaulted sky above — seemingly 
having limitations, yet being in reality so great 
in height and so far-reaching in extent that no 
limit, so far as we have gone, can possibly be 
found. 

From this illustration, even if taken literally, 
we secure a clear idea of what a vast immensity 
the superconscious world really is; but when 
taken spiritually, with its internal meaning, which 
we must to secure the true idea, it becomes 
greater still; in truth, it is then we fully realize 
that the superconscious is surely as high as the 
heavens, and as limitless, in mental reach, as the 
vastness of the vaulted blue. Accordingly, we 



174 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

conclude that the mind may reach out, farther 
and farther, higher and higher, into this lofty, 
expansive realm, and never reach its highest pos- 
sibilities, or its greatest marvels. And con- 
sciousness itself may be expanded perpetually 
into the same wonderful vastness, and never 
come to a place where it may not be expanded 
still farther. This fact is extraordinary indeed, 
but it becomes far more so when we remember 
that all of these things are in the great within — 
both the subconscious and the superconscious 
exist in the great within, the one being beneath, 
the other above; and the great within, with all 
these astounding marvels, does exist in every in- 
dividual mind. How this can be possible we 
know when we begin to realize that direction in 
the great within goes, not away from the center, 
as it does in the great without, but towards the 
center; and also that the center, in the great 
within, is as far away from any given point as 
the boundary line of the sky is from any point in 
external space. But to understand this we must 
have spiritual discernment; we must be able to 
understand the inner meaning of things, and 
comprehend the life of the inner world. And 
when we do, these seemingly incomprehensible 
marvels become as clear as the light of the day. 
The fact that consciousness can be expanded 
indefinitely into the great superconscious world 



THE SPIRITUAL BORDERLAND 175 

is of far-reaching value and interest ; and proves 
conclusively that there is no end to the upward 
and onward advancement of man; for the truth 
is that the more we expand consciousness, the 
larger the mind becomes, the greater our measure 
of life and power becomes, and the richer and 
more wonderful becomes the mental and spiritual 
worlds in which we live. 

We may live in a very interesting world to- 
day — a world holding a thousand things of most 
remarkable fascination ; and yet, we may, by sim- 
ply expanding consciousness another measure 
into the superconscious, find ourselves living in 
a world many times as large and many times as 
fascinating as the world we lived in the moment 
before. In brief, where there were a thousand 
wonders before, there would now be ten thou- 
sand; and all of them would be far beyond the 
most wonderful of anything known in the past. 

It is well known that souls having the power 
to enter frequently into the superconscious, meet 
such experiences almost continually. At times 
they live for days in the full consciousness of a 
higher universe that can only be described as a 
thousand wonderworlds blended into one. And 
not infrequently they ascend to heights from 
which they behold a sight so incredibly marvelous 
that it can only be thought of as a million 
thoroughfares extending from one end of the 



176 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

cosmos to the other, with all the splendors of the 
most gorgeously described heavens, arrayed in 
shining glory on every side. Thus we can 
imagine what experiences such souls meet on their 
"ten million mile" journeys through the inner 
universes of the superconscious world. And our 
interest in all these things will be heightened re- 
markably when we learn that such experiences 
are not imaginary, but are actual journeys of 
consciousness in realms that have actual ex- 
istence in the vastness of the superconscious 
mind. 

Considering the subject from the practical 
viewpoint, we may employ another illustration 
with a still further comparison of the three 
phases of the mind. We may liken the con- 
scious mind to the sower, the tiller of the soil in 
the great mental garden; we may liken the sub- 
conscious to the fertile soil in which every seed 
is placed — where every seed, that is, everything 
we think, say or do, is to grow, develop, multiply 
itself, come forth and express itself in the outer 
world of actual living and being. And we may 
liken the superconscious to the sunlight from 
above — that great power from higher realms 
coming down upon the mental garden with its 
warmth, its light and its life-giving elements, so 
that every seed in the garden may grow freely 
and develop into the full grown flower of under- 
standing, character and spirituality. 



THE SPIRITUAL BORDERLAND 177 

But here we must remember that if the con- 
scious mind — the sower, does not make a wise se- 
lection of seed, there will be thornbushes and 
other objectionable growths in the mental gar- 
den; because the subconscious gives its fertility 
to every seed, and the superconscious gives its 
light and life to every seed, be it good or other- 
wise. It is highly important therefore that the 
conscious mind, the tiller of the garden, be scien- 
tific both in the art of seed-selection and culti- 
vation. And it is unthinkable that any mind 
should be negligent any more after learning what 
marvelous powers and possibilities the subcon- 
scious and superconscious hold in store. With 
such extraordinary powers at our command — 
powers that we can use and control as we will, 
we positively can not give too much attention to 
the science and art of thought selection and mind 
cultivation* 

From the illustration just given we realize, 
first, that the conscious mind is always the sower 
of the seed. The mind we use in our daily wide 
awake experiences is the mind that selects the 
seed and that places every selected seed in the 
subconscious field. And as we are fully awake 
when using the conscious mind, and have full 
control over all its actions, we can select what- 
ever seed we may desire, thereby determining ab- 
solutely what we would reap — what we would be- 



178 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

come — what we would have for our future. We 
realize, further, that since the subconscious is 
the field in which every seed is placed to take 
root, grow, develop and ripen, we must cultivate 
that field both deeply and well. In brief, our 
mental actions must not be on the surface only, 
but must be deeply felt so that more and more 
of the subconscious life and fertility is liberated 
for the growth and development of every flower 
in the garden. And all such mental actions must 
be scientifically applied; that is, in perfect har- 
mony with the laws of right thinking, so that the 
cultivation of the subconscious may be accord- 
ing to the highest art known in the field of true 
mental culture. 

We realize, finally, that it is from the super- 
conscious that we receive the sunshine required 
for the growth of this garden ; and therefore our 
mental sky must be clear. The clouds of doubt, 
fear, discontent, ignorance, misunderstanding 
and materiality must be removed completely, so 
that the great sun of truth may send its life- 
giving rays upon every flower and tree growing 
in this remarkable garden. And it is materiality 
that is the heaviest cloud — that attitude of the 
mind that closes all consciousness to the light 
from above, and dwells only in the contempla- 
tion of the earth, earthy. Such an attitude will 
also cause the mind to direct its actions towards 



THE SPIRITUAL BORDERLAND 179 

the limitations of things and towards the lesser, 
thereby turning all faculties and talents away 
from the real light of wisdom from above. In 
consequence, but very little of that light will be 
received, and the mental garden will bring forth 
but meagerly. 

If we would receive the full light of the sun 
of wisdom and truth, and thus expand our minds 
perpetually in the realization of greater light in 
all ways, we must turn the mind fully upon the 
vastness of the superconscious world. We must 
look up, look unto the hills, turn all thought to- 
wards the high places, so that the strong light 
from the great Eternal Sun may come upon us, 
fully and directly, thereby giving us, not only its 
sunshine and life-giving powers, but also its bril- 
liancy and inspiring illumination. 

In the field of attainment we find it most im- 
portant to enter into closer and closer touch 
with the superconscious, and to reach out con- 
tinually into the brilliancy and the mental rich- 
ness of that higher world. And the reason is 
that it is from the superconscious that we re- 
ceive our inspiration, our greatest thoughts, our 
most brilliant ideas, our original concepts and 
our higher understanding of truth. It is thus 
evident that it is the mind that can go the far- 
thest up into the superconscious that is the great- 
est mind, the richest mind and the most inspired 
mind. 



i8o IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

The mind that is in harmony with the super- 
conscious, and that is turned fully towards the 
light of truth from above, receives its thought 
directly from the supreme fountain of truth; 
such a mind therefore speaks as one having au- 
thority; speaks as the prophet and the seer; 
speaks as one who has seen the divine light with 
his own awakened vision. And in the thought 
of such a mind there is both depth and height, 
and a superior quality that reveals most clearly 
its higher source. 

Therefore, we need never be mistaken as to the 
source of anything that is expressed. And 
whether it be expressed now, or was expressed 
in the distant past, we may know whether or not 
it has a higher source. If it comes from above, 
through the marvelous superconscious world, the 
thought expressed invariably reveals a higher 
something that no one can mistake. It is in- 
spired, for all inspiration comes through the 
same channel — through the light and wisdom of 
the superconscious. For this reason we cannot 
give too much attention to our study of this upper 
mental world. It holds untold possibilities, and 
in every imaginable direction that the mind may 
wish to reach out or develop. But a marked de- 
gree of spiritual development, combined with the 
mental discernment of the finer things in life, is 
necessary before we can go very high in that 



THE SPIRITUAL BORDERLAND 181 

world. These essentials, however, we all can 
acquire; and when we secure them we shall be 
able at any time to go, both far and high, into the 
wonderworld of the superconscious ; for a won- 
derwork! it is — in truth, ten million wonder- 
worlds, each one more extensive and more mar- 
velous than the one we passed through before. 
Then who shall say that man, who is in posses- 
sion of such a mind, is not created in the image 
of the Most High? The truth is that when we 
really know man we find that he is far more won- 
derful than we ever could in the past imagine 
God to be. And from this larger vision God 
becomes infinitely more wonderful than we could 
think before. But this vision shall become even 
larger than it is now. Where then is the end? 
And again we may ask, "Eternity, what has thou 
in store for me?" 



CHAPTER XVII 

WHEN GOD SO WILLS 

Your aspirations may be lofty and wonderful; 
you may have begun to dream the great dream ; 
you may feel tempted to wish for everything con- 
ceivable; you may feel an irresistible desire to 
pray for the very highest that the soul can dis- 
cern. And if so, you have seen the vision. You 
are no longer living with mere man. You have 
become a friend and companion of the gods. 

This you know ; but what of the future ? Will 
your prayers be answered ? Will your innumer- 
able wishes come true? Or, will your only re- 
ward be in this, that you have had your dream. 
Sometimes you may think that this is all; but 
during your lofty and inspired moments you think 
differently. Something seems to speak to the 
soul at such moments; and in answer to your 
questioning mind, the Voice seems to say, "When 
God So Wills." 

You may not be able, however, to find the 
secret interpretation of that wonderful state- 
ment, and therefore may continue to hover be- 
tween faith and doubt as to your realization for 

182 



WHEN GOD SO WILLS 183 

the future. But you cannot give up your lofty 
aspirations. Regardless of adversity or fate, 
you will continue to cling to the clouds; you will 
continue to reach out, in every conceivable mode 
and manner, for that invisible sublime something 
that you feel you must have — that alone can sat- 
isfy. You have taken the upper pathway, and 
you cannot, would not, return — not for every- 
thing that the world might offer or contain. 

These are your convictions; and yet you feel 
that you should receive everything that the world 
can give; you almost feel it is your privilege to 
wish for everything — everything in the visible 
life and everything in the spiritual life. And 
indeed, why not? That all is not too much for 
those who have become companions of the gods. 
Surely there can be neither restrictions nor lim- 
itations upon the upper pathway. 

In your personal effort to live life as it should 
be lived, you meet many things that seem neces- 
sary, not only among higher things, but also 
among material things; and when obstacles in- 
tervene so that these things seem to pass out of 
your world forever, you may think that you have 
wished for that which was not best ; and although 
the passing of these ideals may cause your life, 
for a time, to be nothing more than a desert of 
distressing emotions, nevertheless you decide, 
sooner or later, that you will leave it all to God. 



184 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

You are on the upper pathway and cannot become 
wholly disheartened. Even when the clouds on 
every hand are black and heavy, you know that 
the light is shining above. You- have seen the 
vision. You still have your wonderful dream. 

There is much pleasure in this fact ; more than 
that, it is a rare privilege; but your mind will 
question again and again if dreams were not 
made to come true. Therefore, when you see 
passing out of your world those very things that 
you wanted more than all else, should you give 
up hope? Could it be possible that God might 
will to bring all those things back to you at an- 
other and a better time. 

You know that nothing is impossible; never- 
theless, what assurance do you have that the fu- 
ture will smile sweetly upon your every wish and 
desire. When things are gone, they seem to be 
gone forever ; when you cannot, at present, have 
what you want, you can only try to be strong, 
and send up to the heavens some other prayer. 
When obstacles intervene that seem to be insur- 
mountable, what are you to do but try to find 
peace and joy and love some other way? 

These may be your thoughts; but are you 
wholly right in this regard? Is it not true that 
everything you have wished for shall come to you 
when God so wills? And might it not be possi- 
ble that God is waiting to will you everything, 



WHEN GOD SO WILLS 185 

provided you will prove that you merit every- 
thing. 

Again, is it not true that you can, through your 
own faith and life, cause the Supreme to come 
on your side — not on your side against someone 
else, but on your side for everything that you 
have wished for and prayed for. And when the 
Supreme is on your side, is there anything that 
can prevent your dream from coming true ? 

When God declares that "this" shall come to 
pass, then the great Word will be spoken; and 
when the limitless power of the Word comes 
forth, is there anything that can stand in the 
way? Indeed, difficulties, confusions, misunder- 
standings, complexities and unthinkable obsta- 
cles may seem to intervene, but what are these 
before the invincible onrush of Higher Power? 

We imagine that we may as well cease our 
prayer when all hope seems to be gone ; but why 
judge according to the seeming? It is not a mat- 
ter of whether there is much hope or no hope. 
.Your prayer will be answered when God so wills ; 
and God is waiting for you to be worthy of your 
prayer. 

The very thing that you desire may be on the 
other side of the earth; but the Supreme is every- 
where. Higher Power can, at any time, bring 
about a series of events that will cause you and 
that which you desire to meet face to face. The 



186 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

hand of God may work mysteriously, but when it 
is decreed that certain things shall come to pass, 
they will come to pass, regardless of circum- 
stances or fate. 

tYour dream may seem impossible to-day; but 
to-morrow everything may be changed in your 
favor. Your own deeds, your own thoughts or 
your own life may have wrought those changes, 
and because you were true to your prayer; you 
continued in the faith ; you paid heed to the guid- 
ance of the Voice ; you placed yourself in accord 
with Higher Power; you were prepared to act 
when God so wills. 

But it is not the Supreme that decides what 
God is to will for you; it is you, yourself, that de- 
cides all these things. It is your own soul that 
writes upon the book of destiny, and decrees 
therein what shall come to pass; and when you 
have proven that you are worthy of that which 
was written, then your prayer will be answered. 
The Great Word will be spoken for you. Higher 
Power will appear upon the scene and utterly 
banish every obstacle or adversary. Then what 
you wanted will become your own, and what you 
saw in the heavens will come to dwell upon 
earth. 

There is no longer occasion, therefore, to 
hover between faith and doubt, or to think that 
you have prayed for that which was not best. If 



WHEN GOD SO WILLS 187 

you feel in your own soul that your dearest wish 
was inspired, and that it should be realized, then 
live in the faith. God will find a way. God can 
do everything, even to change the minds of every 
entity upon earth. God will answer your prayer, 
if you really want the answer, and prove that you 
are worthy of that prayer. 

God is your God, and will serve you in every 
conceivable manner; but you must decide what 
you wish to have done; and you must, without 
fail, be as great, as good and as wonderful as 
your wish. Continue therefore to dream the 
great dream — to wish for everything conceivable 
— to pray for the very highest that the soul can 
know. 

When God so wills, then everything shall come 
to pass; and God wills everything to those who 
make themselves worthy of everything. This is 
the principle and the law; but we need not wait 
for the distant future to fulfill this extraordinary 
law; for indeed, the soul, being limitless in power 
and possibility, can so live in the great eternal 
now that personal existence may deserve and 
merit everything now. What the vision may 
reveal in the present, that very thing our own 
inherent power, working with God, can make 
real in the present. Therefore, we all may re- 
joice with infinite joy; we are on the upper path- 
way, and may, at any time, find that greatest 



188 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

something which we have longed for, prayed for, 
lived for — when God so wills. And God does 
not live in the future, but in the never-ending 
present. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

REGIONS OF INFINITE REPOSE 

There is a wonderful realm somewhere in the 
upper regions of spiritual consciousness, far be- 
yond the ever-moving thoughts and feelings of 
man, where silence is absolute and eternal ; where 
the soul can be still and know ; and in this won- 
derful realm all life abides in a luminous state 
of unending repose. 

To find this charmed state or region — this is 
ever the purpose of those who have taken higher 
ground — those who have discerned the nearness 
of the spiritual calm, and who have felt, during 
exalted moments, the presence of the peace that 
passeth all thought and speech. And they who 
seek shall always find, even though it be not un- 
til the eleventh hour. 

In the finer and the higher worlds of soul and 
spirit there are no disappointments. No effort 
is in vain. Every endeavor brings its full and 
expected consequence. Every desire and prayer 
is granted. Every dream and vision is fulfilled 
to the uttermost. Therefore, they who are in 
search of the wonderful realm of unending re- 

189 



190 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

pose shall, at the right time, find the goal of their 
heart's desire. 

There are so many states and regions within 
the vastness of this wonderful realm; and the 
higher we go, the greater becomes the stillness 
and the calm, until we reach the sublime heights 
of spiritual being — there we find the very soul 
of Silence — the apex of infinite repose. 

We may realize many varying stages or con- 
ditions of stillness, and experience states of se- 
renity that are very deep and very high; but all 
of these may merely give peace and rest to mind 
and personality — nothing more, although peace 
and rest in full measure have value beyond com- 
putation. When we approach the sublime 
heights of stillness, however, we find more than 
merely peace and rest; we also find light and 
power. 

The mind of the greatest wisdom is the mind 
that is forever still — the mind that is so com- 
pletely in the light of the spirit that no effort is 
required to think or know. Such a mind is il- 
lumined with the light that is all of The Light — 
the light that does not shine forth through action, 
but that abides in the perfect calm — in the lumin- 
ous states of unending repose. 

The mind of the greatest power is the mind 
that can remain for all time in that wonderful 
realm where silence is absolute and eternal. To 



REGIONS OF INFINITE REPOSE 191 

be alive and at the same time to be still — abso- 
lutely still in thought, feeling and consciousness 
— that is the secret of power. And the longer 
the mind can continue in absolute stillness, while 
being fully and tremendously alive, the greater 
becomes the power, until the soul becomes a spir- 
itual giant. 

They who would find the path to the greatest 
and the most wonderful that man can become or 
attain, will remember that the gates ajar are 
these: To increase the measure of life and to 
deepen the realization of stillness — the life more 
abundant and ever more abundant, and constant 
approach towards the soul of the Silence — these 
are the gates that open upon the wonderful path- 
way. 

The higher we go in the realization of the One 
Life and the soul of the Silence, the greater be- 
comes our wisdom and power. The more com- 
pletely we can live ; and the more deeply we can 
feel the spirit that is ever still the higher we rise 
in the scale, and the more wonderful we become 
in everything that pertains to human worth and 
spiritual attainment. 

Thus we may go higher and higher in the 
realization of life and the realization of stillness, 
until we enter the soul of the Silence, the deep- 
est and highest conceivable state of Silence — 
where life is so absolutely still that being abides 



IQ2 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

upon the very heights of unending repose — the 
apex of infinite repose. And in that most lofty 
realm we find the all wisdom and the all power. 

The deeper and the higher the silence of a liv- 
ing soul, the greater the power. Therefore, 
when the soul abides in the deepest and the high- 
est silence, the all power is inevitably realized. 
In like manner, the all wisdom. Life is not 
merely in touch with the One Source, but actually 
abides in the One Source. Hence, infinite re- 
pose, for the One Source is forever still, being 
within itself the all in all. 

It is only limitation that calls forth effort — ef- 
fort to overcome limitation and enter the bound- 
less. That which lives in part must work to live 
more so as to finally live the all. But that which 
does live the all can abide forever in perfect re- 
pose. And the One Source does live the all. 
Likewise, the soul. The personal man lives only 
in part; therefore, must work and express ef- 
fort. But the soul lives the all, and need not 
express effort. The soul can be still and know. 
The soul can enjoy the ecstasy of unending re- 
pose. The soul can, now and f orevermore, abide 
at the very apex of infinite repose. And you are 
the soul. 

To know that you are the soul, living in the 
upper regions of that wonderful realm, and that 
the personal man can, during moments of pause 



REGIONS OF INFINITE REPOSE 193 

and serenity, draw so near to those upper regions 
that consciousness can actually touch the hem 
of the pure white garment of peace — the peace 
that passeth understanding — and for the moment 
partake of the same infinite repose — what a joy 
and a privilege. And when the personal man 
will learn to take advantage of that sublime privi- 
lege, the days of weariness and sadness will have 
gone forever. 

Whatever may transpire in the outer world, 
there is no need of sorrow or despair. Far be- 
yond the ever-moving thoughts and feelings of 
man there is a realm where all is still, and where 
all is forever well. Consciousness may go for 
rest and refuge at any time to that wonderful 
realm on high, and abide there for a season with 
the soul. 

And when consciousness returns to its work 
in the outer world, it will return illumined with 
wisdom and clothed with power. For, indeed, 
the soul lives in the very spirit of the One Source ; 
and, therefore, one moment with the soul, and all 
is well. Consciousness is thus prepared for any 
life, for any fate ; and the personal man may re- 
sume his divine mission upon earth. 

In due time that mission will be fulfilled ; and 
consciousness will arise to abide for ages and 
aeons with the soul — abide in the very life of the 
Silence, the Silence of sublime and luminous 



194 IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRIT 

heights — abide in the glory and the ecstasy of in- 
finite repose — that repose that contains within 
itself the fullness of all life, all wisdom, all light, 
all power, all joy — the unending peace of God. 



THE END 



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